Love and War
by The Red Dragons Order
Summary: FINISHED Can a Vampire and a Slayer work together, even if it is to save the world? Probably. But can these two? SSHP Slash RR
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own only the obvious, the rest belongs to JK Rowling.

Authors Notes: Um, no comment. Yeah, no comment. Blame the Plot Bunnies.

-Chapter One- 

It was Christmas. The snow was falling, covering everything in white. Children were playing in the park, building snow-castles, snowmen, making snow-angels or having a snowball war. Christmas-songs were playing in the shops, and Santa's could be seen at almost every corner in red suits and white beard. People were out doing their last-minute shopping and chatting with each other on the street. Mothers were busy with the Christmas cooking, fathers could be seen decorating the Christmas tree through a window. All in all it was the perfect picture of Christmas spirit. 

The Weasley residence was no exception. Hermione Weasley was happily keeping an eye at the dinner in the oven while at the same time cooking three other dishes. Ron Weasley, her husband, was busy decorating the magnificent tree in their living room with their two daughters. They were going to hold a get-together for old friends that afternoon, and everyone who were able were coming. There was Albus Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin, the rest of the Weasley clan, Draco Malfoy and his wife Ginny, and, of course, Harry Potter and Severus Snape. 

 "Mummy!" Hermione turned as one of her six year old daughters ran into the kitchen, quickly followed by the other one. "Minnie's pulling my hair again!" the little girl glared at her twin.

 "Was not," the other replied. "We were arguing over what was best, short hair or long hair. I was just proving my point." 

 "How many times do I have to tell you?" Hermione said. "It doesn't matter any more if you have short or long hair, that time is over. Now, Minnie, apologise to your sister."

 " 'm sorry." The short-haired girl replied, not sounding sorry at all.

 "Assepted," the other replied. "When're Uncle Al. and the rest coming?" 

 "There is still an hour left," Hermione replied. "And it's 'accepted', not 'assepted'."

 "Ah, there you two are," the brown-haired woman looked up and into the smiling face of her husband. "I was wondering where you went. Who wants to put the star on the top of the tree?" the two girls squealed and ran out of the kitchen and into the living room, throwing items around the room in their search to find the star. Ron chuckled and walked over to his wife, kissing her on the cheek. "And what about you Herm?"

 "I would love to, but I've got to watch the dinner," she said, and kissed him in return. "Don't want to repeat the incident that happened last Christmas."

 "Hey, that was Fred and George's fault, I had nothing to do with it." 

 "I didn't say you did." Hermione smiled and turned back to the stove. 

 "Daddy! We need help with the star!"

 "Yeah, she's too short to reach the top!"

 "Oh, as if you're any taller."  

 "I better go and break them up," Ron said grinning. 

 "Just watch out that they don't eat too many sweets," Hermione replied. "Dinner will be ready in forty-five minutes, and the guest will be arriving by then."

----------------------------

The doorbell rang, and Annie and Minnie nearly ran each other down trying to get to the front-door first. When they opened they found themselves looking up at Sirius Black and Remus Lupin, the former had hooked an arm around the werewolf, who was holding two bags with presents. The girls let the two men enter, hugged them and ran off with the presents. 

 "I swear Sirius, they've spent too much time with you." Sirius Black turned and was hugged by Hermione. "Good to see you Snuffles." 

 "Hey Ron, Hermione. How have you been?" the black-haired man greeted them.

 "Very well thank you, what about you two?" Ron replied. "When are we going to hear wedding bells?" 

Remus blushed slightly and Sirius grinned. 

 "If you have waited for four years, you can wait for another four." Sirius replied, Remus just rolled his honey-brown eyes and smiled. 

Hermione laughed and led them into the nicely furnished living room. Minnie and Annie were counting the presents that stood under the Christmas tree, and were arranging them from biggest to smallest. Ron was sitting in the couch that stood beside the tree. He looked up when they entered, smiled and got up to greet them. 

Less than half an hour later nearly everyone were present. Draco was talking to Sirius, and Ginny to Remus. Dumbledore and Ron were playing with the kids, while McGonagall and Hermione were engaged in a heated debate about transfiguring an airplane into a sugar lump, and vice versa. Suddenly the doorbell rang again, and Hermione went to open. She was scooped into a warm hug before she could even open her mouth. When she was released she stood face to face with Harry, his unnaturally green eyes twinkling as mischievously as ever. Behind him she could see that Severus was debating with Arthur Weasley. Molly was talking to Angelina, Alicia and Penelope, while Fred, George and Percy were busy watching the kids. 

 "Come in," Hermione said while opening the door as much as possible. "You must be frozen!" 

 "Actually no," Harry replied pulling off his scarf. "The Heating charm Sev found is quite useful. So, what did we miss?"

 "I doubt we missed much with your godfather here, Harry." Severus said as he hung his jacket on a coat hanger. Harry rolled his eyes.

 "Can't you two lay off each others necks for once?" he asked. The whole thing was becoming really old. "It's Christmas!" 

 "Yeah, if you don't-" Fred began.

 "-we'll make sure you do." George finished. "Come on love," he continued turning to Alicia, who had just sent their little boy off. "This room is filled with negative vibes and karma." He dragged her off. 

 "George Weasley! Will you ever grow up?" 

 "Let me see…nope!" 

 "Harry, Severus! How nice to see you again." 

 "Good to see you too Headmaster." Harry replied sitting down in the couch besides the old mage, Severus after him again. 

 "Oh, come now Harry. You of all people shouldn't have to call me that."

 "Sorry, I forgot myself for a moment." Harry replied and leaned back into the couch. "So, what did we miss?" he asked. 

 "Nothing much, though I suspect that Remus and Sirius have an announcement to make." Albus replied. "But they won't say a word, no matter how hard I try to make them talk." 

 "Well, I think it might have something to do with churches and bells." Ron said looking up from the kids. "They bluntly refused to talk about that when me and Herm asked them, we even sent Minnie and Annie on mission to try to get it out of them, but not even they could get a word out of the two Marauders. And you know that Remus and Sirius can't refuse the puppy-faces." 

 "I'm sure they will tell us when the time is right." Severus said. "Arthur, about those artefacts that were found a couple of weeks ago. Has the Ministry done anything about that?" he asked turning to the man sitting opposite him. 

----------------------------

The kids had been put to bed, and the grown ups were in the living room talking about anything and everything between heaven and hell. Harry was leaning his head on Severus' shoulder, the older man's arm around his torso. Sirius was in same position with Remus leaning on his shoulder. Dumbledore was talking quietly with Mrs and Mr Weasley, McGonagall was with Fred and George. She was interested in the twins' joke-shop. How had they come up with all the ideas? Were there any transfiguration involved? How did they make the fake wands? When was the new items coming out? and so on. Draco turned to Severus and Harry as the younger man yawned. 

 "You know, you two never told us how you hooked up," he said and everyone turned to the three of them. "I mean, I know that you are a vampire Severus and that they two of you saved the world, again if I might add. But you never told us how you met and ended up in the same bed." Harry nearly chocked on his drink.

 "Yeah, I can remember at the end of the War when we got to the scene, you two came out of the fog like two ghosts, hand in hand." Hermione shuddered at the memory. 

Harry and Severus shared a glance, then decided to tell the tale. Well, it was either tell the tale or being forced to swallow Veritaserum and _then_ tell the tale. Sirius looked a bit disappointed at the fact that he wouldn't get to shove anything down Snape's throat today, but was soon distracted by Remus and forgot the whole thing. 

 "Well, it started when I came back from the spying-mission among the vampires," the Potion Master began.

 "Yeah, I remember that time." Draco cut in. "You were half dead, no offence, by the time you had reached the HQ's, and it took me three hours just to heal your wounds. And trust me, it's hard enough on a normal vampire, but with a wizard-turned-vampire it's worse." 

 "How did you become a vampire in the first place, Severus?" Ginny asked. "I've never heard the tale."

 "Lets just say that Voldemort was _not_ pleased when he found out that I was spying for Albus. It was a Daylight vampire." The pale man had to repress a shudder as the memory resurfaced. He unconsciously hugged Harry closer. "Well, as I said. I had just returned from a mission with valuable information."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The night was dark, and there was no one out on the streets. Not tonight, or any other night for the last five years. After the Dark Lord had risen six years ago and had started his wave of terror, trying to achieve world dominance, even the Muggles had noticed that not everything was the same anymore. The dead, brown leaves danced in lazy patterns as a cold wind blew over the town. There were working streetlamps, but they were few and far between.

Severus staggered towards the old graveyard. There, his contact had told him, he would find a portkey to the Medical Ward in the HQ's, and it was only to be used in situations with no other way out. Well, if this didn't fit into that category then he had no idea what did. The sound of a trashcan overturning and a cat running alerted him that his pursuers were close by. Not that he hadn't known that fact before. He was a vampire, and could hear a whisper on the other side of the world if he wished to, but he hadn't known exactly _where_ the others had been. Now he did. 

The Potion Master clutched the valuable documents to his chest, ignoring the pain, and easily jumped over the wall to the cemetery. On the other side he landed smoothly and quietly, the mist that weaved through the gravestones and tombs surrounded him at once. He started to make his way among the headstones and towards the little, white, old church in the middle of the graveyard. It was clear as crystal that no one had been here for a long time. 

Severus hurriedly entered the slightly decayed church, and headed towards the altar. Moss and grass had started to grow on the wooden seats that stood neatly in row, dried, dead leaves everywhere. Statures of beautiful angels were placed here and there, and in one corner the statue of Virgin Mary with the infant Christ in her arms. All this the vampire took in with one quickly look around. He didn't have time for more. As he came closer to the altar, Severus saw that the only thing that was left there was a wooden plate, with a magnificent, royal and mystical rune carved out on it. 

Just as he reached for it the doors to the church flew open, and Severus whirled around. His pursuers were standing there, but only for a second. In the next the six vampires attacked. Severus just glared coldly at them, waited until they were no more than a couple of feet away from him, then grabbed hold of the wooden plate with the rune. As he disappeared in a flash of light, the vampires that had been attacking were set ablaze. With horrible, unnatural screams they melted into a black, oily puddle on the ground. 

Severus on the other hand, appeared suddenly in the middle of the Medical Ward and stumbled forward. Before he could fall he was caught, and heard a voice yell out orders to other people and lots of shuffling and running. He took out the yellow folder from his jacket having long since abandoned robes, and handed it to a man he recognised from the Commanders office. Severus' head began to spin and his sight went in and out of focus, in the end disappearing completely as he lost consciousness. 

----------------------------

                 

Severus opened his eyes and closed them again at once, groaning. He knew were he was and he hated it. The room was pure white, with a window to the right, and a little table beside his bed. To the left there was the door, the wardrobe, and the button to push if he needed something and a nurse would appear seconds later. Severus had been here too many times for his own liking. Though he had to admit that it was fun to scare the young nurses that hadn't been around for too long. One glare and the woman, or man whatever the case might be, would either swoon over him, one of the drawbacks of being a vampire, or they would run out of the room nearly in panic. 

He looked at the clock opposite the bed. It was precisely midday. Severus growled, got out of bed, found some new clothes in the wardrobe and got dressed. He had just pocketed his trusty wand, when a knock came at the door.

 "Yes?" he snapped. All he wanted to do was get something to eat and then get out of here. 

 "Um, sir," a young, cute brunette stuck her head in. "Th-the Commander wants to talk to you, sir." Poor kid, was even more terrified of him than Longbottom had been when he was still teaching at Hogwarts. She had every right to be afraid of course, he was a vampire after all. 

 "Where does he want to meet?" Severus asked. 

 "H-he wants y-you to go t-to his o-office, sir." Her stammering was getting a bit annoying.

 "Alright, I know the way so there's no need for you to lead me there." Severus snapped and the nurse paled a bit more. "Well, what are you waiting for? Beat it!" she was gone with a vampires speed, leaving the real vampire looking after her in amusement. 

----------------------------

  The office was filled with light when Severus entered, and it bothered him slightly. Three of the walls were covered with shelves upon shelves with files, books and Dark Arts Detectors. There was a majestic mahogany desk right opposite him, and behind the desk a tall window. A person stood right in front of the window. Slowly the man turned towards Snape, walked over to the comfortable leather chair that stood behind the desk, and sat down. 

 "Did you even have time to look through the file?" the voice was dangerous, like silk wrapped around a double-edged sword.

 "No." Severus replied. He'd be damned if he called this mortal 'sir'.

 "Well, you were lucky enough to pick the right file at least." The man in the chair said. "The Dark Lord isn't leading the Death Eaters anymore." Severus raised an eyebrow. This was new. "He died two years into the War, poisoned by one of his own lackeys." 

 "Who's running the Snakes now?" the vampire asked when it was clear that the other man wasn't going to continue anytime in the close future. The Death Eaters had been nicknamed 'Snakes' at the start of the War. 

 "A cunning ambitioned fellow named Lucius Malfoy. I believe you know him?"

Of course. There was nothing else to expect from a snake like the older Malfoy. Luckily the younger one had realised his mistake in time, and had fixed it. Mrs Malfoy had vanished into thin air. 

 "So Malfoy's the one who the Dark Supporters have nicknamed 'Son of Morning' after the devil." Severus said. 

 "Yes, apparently he acts like the devil too, if not worse." The other man replied. "The information we have gotten from our spies on the inside, along with this, tells us that Malfoy is planning something big. If it hadn't been for the fact that the idiot that calls himself Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, still held said position, older Mr Malfoy would've been behind bars years ago."      

 "What is he planning?" Severus asked, not sure he wanted to know the answer. 

 "That, unfortunately, we do not know. Yet." He did _not_ like the 'yet'-part. It could only lead to something bad, well, that it bad for Severus. "I'm assigning you to find out what Malfoy's up to, and then to stop it if you can. You will have free reins on this, and an almost limitless access to supplies." Definitely not good. 

 "Am I supposed to work on this alone?"

 "No, you're going to get help from one of the best agents we have." The man in the chair stood up, walked over to a shelf, found a folder and walked over to where Severus was standing while he was leafing through the folder. "Hmm, lets see. No, he's on a mission, she's pregnant, and he's dead. Aha! Here it is." The man gave the file to Severus. "That is your partner, I think you two know each other from before." He walked back to his desk and pushed a red and gold button. "He should arrive soon enough." 

Severus looked at the name in front of the file, and then glared at the other man. This was bloody wonderful! Of all people in the world to be paired with, he had ended up with Harry 'Golden Boy' Potter! 

----------------------------

 "Look! It's Harry!" 

 "Harry is back!" 

 "Harry!"

Those comments, and many more, sounded as Harry walked towards the Orphanage-and-teenage Centre. Kids stopped playing basketball on the court and ran over to meet him, younger children ran out of the building, and the men and women that worked in the orphanage followed the little children quickly. Harry grinned and scooped the little girl that reached him first into his arms, then he was surrounded by the rest and could hardly move. 

 "Where have you been?"

 "Was it fun?"

 "Come play basketball with us!"

 "No, read a story!"

 "No, _tell_ a story!" 

Harry just laughed at the children and made his way back to the orphanage. When he had moved here, the orphanage had been on the brink of closing down. Now that half the money he earned on his missions went to them, it was a wonderful sight. The playground around the white building was free of rusty nails, broken glass, old car-parts and planks. The once grey, sad-looking building where the paint had been chipping off, was now white and majestic, and stood proudly in between the two taller buildings on either side. Harry had spent a lot of time helping them fix the whole thing up, and thereby he had gotten to know them and they him. 

 "Kids, leave Harry alone for one moment will you?" a black, fat little woman that reminded him of Mrs Weasley, said. "Let the poor man catch his breath!" 

 "It doesn't matter, Momma Juji," Harry replied grinning. "So, what do you kids want to hear, hmm?"

 "Tell a story about Hogwarts!"

 "Yeah, with lots of action and evil bad guys." 

 "No, I want to hear a story about love."

 "Women! I give up!"

 "What do you say if I tell you a story that has both?" Harry asked and sat down on a log in the middle of the playground. The children settle around him, and Momma Juji took up her knitting and settled down on one of unoccupied chairs. "The whole thing began when Ron and Hermione were in their seventh and last year at Hogwarts. There were only a couple of weeks left of school, and the NEWT's were quickly approaching. Now, as I have told you, Hermione was of the studying type, actually she was a walking library, but that's another case." The children laughed. Harry proceeded to tell them how Ron had waited until the last day possible before proposing in the middle of the Great Hall. Then he told them about the three tries to get married, but every time the church had either began to burn, Death Eaters and Phoenix Agents stormed in at the middle of the ceremony, or either Ron or Hermione were called out on missions. In the end the two of them had gotten married at Hogwarts with Dumbledore acting as priest, and no part at all. It had been done between two missions, and Ron and Hermione didn't even get to experience the wedding night or the honeymoon. 

 "I don't know how you come up with all those stores, but the children love them." Momma Juji said when he was done and the kids had run off to play. "They even believe that the stories are true."

 "Who said that they weren't?" Harry asked slyly. "By the way, where's Jamal? I haven't seen him around." 

 "I'm afraid that the boy is out of our reach." The woman replied. "He has joined the Skulls, even if that Tyler hates him." 

 "Do you know where he's now?" Harry asked standing up. 

 "Down by the beach."

 "Tanks." Harry said and walked off. He crossed the busy street and walked down to the beach. He looked around before he spotted a lone figure sitting close to the water. Harry stopped beside the teen and sat down, looking out over the sea. "Care to explain some things?" he asked. 

 "Harry!" the sixteen year old boy jumped. Harry looked at him. "It's not what you think. I've begun my own round of the Big Game!"

 "And what is your goal?" Harry looked back to the sea.

 "To get the drug-dealers off the street. The police knows all about it." Jamal replied. 

 "You had me scared for minute, I thought that you had gone off and lost your mind. Well, if you're doing it for that reason, I can understand. Why didn't you tell Momma Juji? She could've helped you out." Harry said. "And she's worried about you," he added.

 "I was just thinking about the best way to tell her." Momma Juji was _not_ someone to cross. 

 "I guess I'm half to blame since I told you about the Game in the first place. Come on, I'll take half the blame." Harry stood up and helped the teen to his feet. Then they both headed back to the orphanage. 

----------------------------

Harry hurriedly got dressed, found his valet and keys then ran out of his apartment. He was late for the date with his boyfriend. Harry locked the door and ran down the stairs, nearly knocking over old Mrs Coretta. Yelling a quick 'sorry' over his shoulder he jumped into his black Jaguar and drove off. 

 _'Fucking traffic! I just had to pick LA to live in, didn't I?'_ Harry growled to himself. It took him almost half an hour to reach the restaurant. He parked, and walked inside the building, quickly spotting his boyfriend in one corner by one of the windows. Mark Augustyn was Harry's height, with brown hair that fell into his brown eyes. He looked up as Harry approached, then back down to the menu. "Hi," Harry offered. "Sorry I'm late. Got stuck in traffic."

 "Harry, where were you for the past week?" Mark's voice was deep and a bit rough. "You promised to help me take care of the vampires, but no! you didn't show up as usual. The goddamn best Slayer in the whole organisation didn't show up!" it was easy to hear that was trying to control his emotions and to keep his voice low. "Do you have another job or something?" it was said sarcastically. 

 _'If you only knew.'_ Harry sighed. He was patient, but Mark had a trick for tearing down his defence. "I told you, I got sent away. Those vampires down in Transylvania are becoming-"

 "Don't try it, don't even think about lying Harry," Mark cut him off. "I checked it with everyone in the whole fucking organisation, and no one, I repeat; _no one_, had any idea as to where you were!" Harry didn't like the way this was heading. "Harry, I'm sick and tired of waiting for you all the time, and I'm sick and tired of you disappearing at the oddest times."

 "What are you saying?" Harry asked, trying to keep his own anger and emotions in check. 

 "I'm breaking up with you! It's over. Finito, finish, done! There's no more 'us'. We're officially through!" 

Harry just sat there, looking after Mark's retreating back. He snapped back into attention as a waitress brought the bill. Trust that cheat to make him pay for his drink! Harry quickly drove home, barely containing his anger. He really wished that he could meet some Death Eaters or vampires and use them as punching bags. Instead he collapsed onto his bed, burying his head in his pillow, willing the tears back. 

Harry had no idea how long he was lying there, but his peace was broken by an annoying little beeping from somewhere in the apartment. Harry growled, got up and walked into the living room, there a little, golden ball was floating in thin air. Harry took out his wand and tapped the ball once. Words appeared over the little golden device. _Commanders office, Headquarters Order of the Phoenix_. Harry growled again, and hurried off into the his bedroom. He found his Phoenix uniform and put it on, his wand went into the wand-holster at his hip, at the other side a dagger was hanging. Then he apparated out. 

----------------------------

Harry ignored the calls after him as he walked down the corridor towards the Commanders office. This better be good! He stopped in front of the door, put on his expressionless mask, knocked twice and entered. The Commander was sitting in his chair behind the mahogany desk. Harry noted that there were two chairs in front of the desk. He choose to ignore it, and walked further into the room. The Commander looked up.

 "Ah, Mr Potter, how nice of you to come." Harry didn't like the tone of the man's voice. "I've got a new mission for you, and this time you're not doing it alone." The man mentioned to someone behind Harry, who turned and nearly let his expressionless mask drop when he saw _who_ exactly his partner was. "Potter, meet Severus Snape, your partner in crime."  

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Hope you liked it and please review.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I own only the obvious, the rest belongs to JK Rowling.

Authors Note: Hope you like this and please review.

-Chapter Two-

Severus could only glare at the young man standing in front of him, the other was returning the glare gladly for some time before suspicion made its way into the gaze. The former Potion Master knew what was coming, it happened every time he met up with one of his former students or colleagues. Potter's eyes flashed in recognition, but instead of going wide with shock or horror like the rest of them, they narrowed even more, flashing dangerously in anger. 

 "Yes Potter, you have guessed right." The man behind the desk decided to step in. "Your new partner is a vampire. I trust that that isn't a problem."

Severus enjoyed watching the little brat trying to keep his emotions in check. The young man didn't take his eyes off him for one second, there was a watchfulness in them that Severus was just beginning to uncover. An unnatural amount of watchfulness. Nearly as much as a…but no, that'd be absurd. The commander wouldn't partner him with one of them, would he? 

 "No sir." Potter replied, though the 'sir' part was bitten out through clenched teeth. 

 "Good, now have a seat," the man glared at them. "Both of you," he added. Potter was glaring at him all the time, never looking away, not even when he sat down. Severus sat into the other chair. "I want you to find out what's going on and stop Malfoy if you can. Harry, you have already quit the SO's."

 "I have?" Harry asked, daring to cast a quick look at the commander.

 "This afternoon, after your date with Mark. So you won't have to worry about that. Now, as soon as you have something new, I want you to come here and report. As I already told you Severus, you will have almost limitless access to supplies and money. Be extra careful, don't Floo around, don't use owl post, no Muggle phones, cell phones or e-mails. Everything will have to be delivered personally. Oh, and one more thing," he waited until he had both their attention. "You are going to stay together from on until the case is solved. I don't care how long it takes, I don't care what you have to do – though do try to keep killings to a minimum – as long as you get Malfoy behind bars and figure out his scheme!" the man took a few breaths to calm himself. God, he hated Malfoy! "That's all, you are dismissed." He said calmly, found a new, clean file and started to fill it out for a new agent. 

Severus and Harry controlled themselves and didn't kill each other in the commanders office, though when they exited the office and had closed the door, both glared at the other as though it was their fault that the world was going to end. Neither were happy about the situation. If they only had had to work together, it might have been nearly bearable. But they had to actually _live_ together, in the same building and not to mention in the same apartment. A Slayer and a Vampire. Hell had just frozen over, and it wasn't going to unfroze anytime in the close future.

 "Alright, listen up vampire," Potter growled, making sure that his hand never strayed too far away from his dagger or the hidden wooden stake with silver point. "I'm not happy about this and neither are you. One wrong move from you, and the world will have one less vampire." 

 "As if you'd ever get the chance, Slayer," Severus replied. "One wrong move from you, and the world will have a Slayer less."

The two of them glared at each other, neither wanting to be the first one to back down. People that happened to pass them made sure to walk around them at a four feet radius. The only thing that broke them up was the commanders voice from the office telling them to get a move on, and start their mission. 

 "If it hadn't been for this bloody mission, Snape, you would've been a pile of dust on the floor by now." Potter growled then hurried off through the corridors to the closest room with no Apparation Wards. 

 "What's the address?" Severus asked.

 "Address to what?" 

 "Your place Potter, or have you already forgotten hat we're supposed to stay together until this mission is over?" 

 "34th street, building number two from the left on the right hand side. Los Angeles." The younger man growled, and was gone with a pop. 

Severus sighed, and followed. How in heavens name had he managed to get himself into this mess? 

----------------------------

Potter waited for him outside the building, happily chatting with neighbours, kids coming back from school and other people. When the young man realised that Severus was there, he finished his conversation with a young mother, and led the vampire inside the building. They had been walking for a long time – Severus had lost count of all the floors – and then Potter stopped in front of a door with the number 81 on it. He put the key in the lock and turned. 

 "Oh, Harry!" both of them turned towards the voice. An old African-American woman was walking towards them. 

 "Hi Mrs Coretta. May I help you with anything?" 

 "Nononono, dear boy," she replied while studying Severus. "I was just here to tell you that I've cleaned your apartment a bit – it needed it, and don't even think about protesting young man – and also to give you this." She handed him a plate filled with pieces of warm, deliciously smelling cake. "It's my Sweet potato pie." 

 "Sweet potato pie?!" Potter exclaimed happily. "Mrs Coretta, you are a saving angel! I haven't had a decent meal in weeks!"

 "And I know how much you love my pie," the old woman said. "I had nothing to do and baked it for you, got to put some fat on those legs."  

 "Mrs Coretta!" Potter said sternly while blushing. The old woman had just pinched his ass! 

Severus found all of this slightly amusing, but he'd be damned if he showed it. Mrs Coretta looked him over again, just as she had done several times before. Either she was making a move on him, or she was protecting Potter from something. In this case that 'something' being him. 

 "Even an old woman's got to have some fun, Harry." She said and turned back to the younger man. "By the way, that Mark was here not long ago, pounding on your door as though it was the end of the world. I tell you Harry, keep away from that man. He's no good."  

 "I promise you Mrs Coretta, I'll watch out." Potter replied. 

 "Well, I'm off. The sewing circle wants me to hold today's speech." She walked over to the elevator pushed a button and waited for it to come. 

 "One word Snape, and you're dead." Potter growled as he opened the door and entered. 

Severus decided to stay silent. He was looking around the apartment. The walls and ceiling were white, while the floor was parquet with a couple of rugs placed here and there. Everywhere he turned there were shelves with books, files, magazines, papers, souvenirs and here and there a rare plant could be found. The living room was furnished nicely, with one couch and two comfortable chairs. There was a little table right in front of the couch, and on the opposite side of Severus, there was a TV, a stereo and an aquarium with several tropical fishes swimming around. On each side of the little shelf with the aquarium there were two tall, big windows. To his left there was a little kitchen and a door that was leading to the bathroom, to his right there was a door to the bedroom and a small workroom. Severus could see a Muggle computer and some other things he had no idea what were. All in all, the vampire had to admit that Potter had taste. It was a nice place, big enough for a bachelor. 

Potter came out from the kitchen and walked over to a little table in the corner that Severus hadn't noticed. On it stood a phone, several notebooks, pens and erasers. The Slayer pushed a button on the black phone and walked over to a shelf while the messages were played. 

 _"Message one. 12.30." _The machine said.  

 _"Potter, what is this I hear about you quitting the SO's?! For heavens sake, have you gone mad? It wasn't that bad, just a little break-up! Pick up the phone Potter, or have you done one of those disappearing acts of yours again? I don't even know why I bother!"_ the phone on the other side was hung up.

 _"Message two. 14.30."_

 _"Potter, I'm coming over and we'll talk this out. We can't have the best Slayer in the whole goddamn organisation walking out on us. If you aren't there, I'll return every full hour until you come back, no matter how long I'll have to keep doing it. And don't give me some sorry explanation of an excuse. I'll see you later."_ The message ended. Potter hadn't even looked at the machine while it had been talking, he was busy searching for something in the shelf. 

 _"Message three. 16.00."_

 _"Lencho!"_ a shrill and fake voice yelled from the other side. _"Guess who it is! Give up? Your dear and beloved friend Tiaret's back in town! Vampire's watch out! I bet you haven't forgotten how we hunted the Living Dead together Lencho!"_ the voice had gone back to a normal female voice. _"Lencho, what's up with you and that Nyoka, Mark? If he has done anything to you, I'm going to kill him! I tell you Lencho, stay away from him."_ Potter had by this time stopped searching through the shelf and was looking at the machine. _"Oh, yes, one more thing. I'M COMING TO VISIT YOU AS SOON AS I CAN! You're my best khalil in the whole world. Would've been rude of me not to drop by. Anyways, I'll see you soon Lencho. Take care!"_ with that the message ended. 

 _"There are no more messages."_ The machines voice said and with a click it turned off. 

Severus turned to Potter, the young man was shaking his head and smiling in amusement. 

 "Lencho? Are you sure the woman got the right number?" the vampire asked?

 "She got the right number alright." Potter replied and tossed him a thick, old book. "Her name-" Potter cut off abruptly. "Wait, why am I telling this to you of all people, and why do you care?" 

 "I don't care Potter," Severus defended himself, but it was a good question. Why had he asked in the first place? "I was just merely curious." He added, then looked down at the book in his hands. The Bible. The vampire glared at the other man, who acted as nothing had happened. Sure, leave it to Potter to give him a religious task. This one being to find out as much as he could about the devil.   

Suddenly there was a vicious pounding on the door. Potter jumped around and almost lost his own book, and Severus had to refrain from putting his hands over his ears. Being a vampire had it's drawbacks. 

 "Potter, open up!" the voice was angry. "I know you're home Potter, I heard you playing off the message machine. If you don't open up and let me in, I'm going to blast my way through! I'm giving you three seconds! One!"

Potter sighed and put down his book, then he started walking towards the front door but stopped after a few steps. And turned to Severus.

 "You better hide. The man isn't too fond of your kind." It was said coldly and shortly, leaving no room for discussion. Potter turned and headed towards the door again. 

Severus hid in the first and best thing he could find, a closet that was built into the wall. He had just closed the door, when he heard Potter opening the front door and letting in the man on the other side. The vampire looked through the little holes at the top of the door that were there for ventilation. The newcomer was as tall as Potter, though his hair and eyes were brown. 

 "Okay, start explaining!" the man demanded. 

 "Start explaining what?" Potter asked.

 "Start explaining why you quit!" 

 "That is none of your business." 

 "Don't play games with me Potter, I tell you I'm not a patient man." 

 "I had no idea."

 "If this is about the break-up, Potter, you're doing a mistake." The man said. 

 "Mark, if I was angry or sad about the break-up, you wouldn't have been here at the moment, but in a hospital with severe injuries." Potter growled darkly. "I have my reasons, and as far as I know you have nothing to do with them." 

 "But what about us?"

 "What 'us'? I distinctly remember that you broke up with me earlier today." Potter's eyes were glowing dangerously. 

 "Come now Harry, that was a lovers quarrel. Everyone experience that now and then in a relationship." Mark didn't seam to notice that Potter had begun to growl like a lion, his green, unnatural eyes darkening to deep forest-green. "Give us one more chance. We could make it wo-" Mark didn't get further as Potter hit him. "What the fuck was that for!" 

 "I've two word for you Augustyn," Potter growled. The other man tried to edge towards the door without making it obvious. "Get out," it was said in a cold, calm voice that never meant good. Mark Augustyn ran. "Man, that felt good!" Potter seemed down right happy. Like his birthday, Christmas and the fall of the Dark Lord had just happened. 

 "I'm sure it did Potter," Severus snapped as he closed the closet door. "But can we start with the mission, or do you have other people you want to knock senseless?" 

 "That you were a spoilsport in school, Snape, I can take. But now you're just plain boring."

 "I have always had serious doubts about your intelligence Potter, but now all my doubts are thrown out the window." Severus replied as he picked up the Bible again. "We have just established the fact that you are stupid." The vampire put the book back into the shelf, turned and found Potter sitting in the workroom. The previously blank computer was on, and Potter was typing something on the keyboard. "What are you doing?" 

 "Searching for info on the Internet. There must be something that can help us, at least put us on the right track." 

 "While you play with that thing, I'm going to check up on some friends of mine and actually do some real work." 

 "Suit yourself." Potter didn't even look away from the screen. And he was supposed to be a professional Slayer. How in heavens name had he managed to end up with a companion that one moment wanted to kill him and in the next didn't give damn about where he was going? 

----------------------------

The next three days went by in the same way. Get up, watch Potter eat breakfast, get to work, and then return late at night, only to find Potter still sitting by that blasted machine. The first night the Slayer had told him that he could either take the couch or sleep on the floor, and then had transfigured a pillow into a blanket and gone off to bed. Severus had been severely tempted to kill the little brat while he was asleep, but didn't do it for two obvious reasons. One: The obnoxious idiot had probably set up strong wards and charms to keep safe. And two: As much as Severus hated to admit it, Potter was important for the mission. 

Over the days the two of them learned to avoid each other when the other was in a foul mood, learned to look for some small tell-tale signs that could tell them in what kind of mood the other was in, and avoided speaking to each other if it wasn't completely necessary – that meaning that they were arguing every time they were in the same building, let alone in the same room. 

----------------------------

Severus had just returned from another tour through the town tracking up old acquaintances. He had had to use his persuasion-skills – "I know quite a few vampires who would _love_ to munch on your neck. Want me to call them?" – to get them to tell him where Malfoy was. So far all he had gotten hold off were addresses to several well known Death Eaters and the names of three dragondealers. Not to mention the plan to assassinate Fudge and some other politicians, and the truth about Victoria's Secret. In other words: nothing! Malfoy was gone into thin air, just like his wife. He was cranky, angry, mad, and could feel the bloodlust building up inside him. Another few days and he'd have to feed. Severus sank into one of the comfortable chairs, and planned to stay there for the rest of his life which might be a very long time. Suddenly Potter came out of the workroom, looking happy about something. 

 "Pack your coffin Snape," the Slayer said. "We're off to India." 

 "India? Why the hell are we going to India? Potter, if I might remind you, this is _not_ a weekend trip!" 

 "Touchy." Potter said as he sat down into the chair opposite Severus. "I wasn't thinking about holidays either Snape, it might delight you to hear that I've found our first clue to get to Malfoy."

 "And this clue is in India?"  
  


 "Of course, where else do you think is relatively safe from the Death Eaters? You know that they would _never_ set foot in India. The wizards over there shoot first, and then ask questions later." 

 "Where exactly in India?" Severus asked. 

 "To a town called Gandhinagar. It's somewhere north in the land, if I remember correctly.  The man's going to contact us when we get there." The young man jumped up and went to pack. 

 _'Why do I have the feeling that this is not going to end good?'_ Severus sighed and slumped back into the chair. Definitely not good. 

----------------------------

                              

 "How can you be so bloody cheery?" Snape asked. "We've just spent twelve hours on a Muggle plane where the service was terrible. And, not to mention, on commoners class even if we could've gotten first class seats! Don't forget the fact that we had to land in Paris and Rome to change planes. Why couldn't we just apparate and be done with it?" 

Harry sighed as he found his green bag on the assembly line and picked it up, then they waited for Snape's bag to show up. Snape had been like this even before they had left LA, complaining over everything and anything between heaven and hell. Harry had had to shut the other man up several times under the trip to make sure that he didn't reveal anything significant.  

 "If I might remind you Snape, the commander said not to Floo around, he might as well have said that we couldn't apparate. You know that every European country has put up wards telling them when someone who isn't one of their own citizens apparate or disapparate's into or out of their country. And we would've attracted too much attention had we taken the first class." Harry replied. "As to why I'm so bloody cheerful, well, someone's got to be. And you don't seem too keen on the job." Snape growled and grabbed his bag as it finally came into sight.

The two of them left the airport, and stepped out onto the street. The air was filled with the smell of different spices, food, sweat and exhaust. Men called to each other, old cars tried to make their way through the mass, women were carrying baskets on their heads and kids in their arms, others were sitting behind a booth with bananas, coconuts and other fruits or vegetables. 

The Slayer and the vampire were pushed around quite a bit as they made their way towards the hotel. They passed beggars so thin that they didn't even seem to throw a shadow, children ran past them laughing about something or other, sellers offered different jewellery or small statues with extreme detail carved out of wood. However the two of them ignored it all, and just kept on going. They had to get to the hotel before nightfall. Not even they were stupid, or brave, enough to walk around in India after dark. The rumour was that an old cult had appeared again, and everyone who resisted them would be found dead and beheaded by the next morning. Every single agent that had been sent here, or had already lived in India from before, was dead before the next full moon. The cult, or whatever it was, had ears and eyes everywhere, and even the Death Eaters steered clear of India at night.        

 "Where is that bloody thing?" the vampire growled.

 "One more street then to the left." Harry replied automatically. God, the man could annoy the hell out of anyone. Someone must hate him enough to partner him with the ex-Potion Master. He could still remember the last time he had been at Hogwarts, three months after his own graduation. 

********************

Harry put away the cloak into his locker, and took out his jacket. He had just returned from a two month long mission, and all he wanted to do was get back home and into bed. He closed and locked his locker, and headed for the door. Finally some time off! 

_ "Yo, Potter!" Harry stopped dead in his tracks. There was no way that they were going to send him out again. That was just inhuman! "The commander wants you in his office ASAP!" Harry turned and glared murderously at the other man, who acted as though nothing had happened. "Now, Potter, not tomorrow!" the older man walked away quickly, perhaps too quickly. _

_Harry growled and headed for the commanders office. He ignored everyone he passed. How could the commander do this to him?! The old bugger had to know that Harry was back, or else he wouldn't have been called. Would be put into Azkaban for killing his own boss? _

_He suddenly found himself in front of the commanders office. Harry knocked and entered, only to find a group of other Phoenix Agents already there. the commander was standing in front of the huge window, looking out._

_ "Close the door Potter," the man said. Harry did what he was told, all the time keeping his insults to himself. The commander turned around and sat down behind his large mahogany desk. "There is one reason I have called you all here." He began. "Hogsmeade is under attack from a group of Death Eaters. And I want you to go there and kick their ass. Potter, usually I wouldn't have put you on a mission like this for two reasons. One: you're too young. And the other is that you don't have enough duelling experience out in the field. But one time has to be the first I suppose, and you are the only one of us in this room who knows the area around Hogwarts and Hogsmeade best. I want you to help Draven here come up with a useful plan once you get there, and try to keep the Death Eaters from reaching the school-grounds."_

_Harry nodded and followed the other five Agents out of the room and to the nearest Apparate Room, from there they apparated to the cave that Sirius had used as home in Harry's fourth year. The other Agents were already there waiting for him. Together they made their way to the first house and hid. _

_Harry looked around the house-wall, then quickly turned back again. Death Eaters were running all over the place, some dragging Hogsmeade residents out of their homes, others were burning down the Hogs Head. Children ran around trying to escape the spells that came their way, mothers tried to protect them. Fathers and everyone else who could were fighting the Death Eaters to the best of their abilities. Several homes were on fire. _

_ "Calm down kid," the leader of the group, Draven, said putting a hand on his shoulder. "Remember to breathe. That's better. Now, do you know anything that can help us to get to Hogwarts?" _

_ "Um, yeah, there's a secret tunnel in the Honeydukes that ends on the third floor of the school. There's also one in the Shrieking Shack, but it comes up right beside the Whomping Willow." Harry replied after taking a few calming breaths. _

_ "Good. You'll take the one under Honeydukes and alert the Headmaster of our coming. Don't worry, the five of us can take them out in no time." Draven added when he saw Harry's concerned face. "Go, and be careful." _

_Harry obeyed. He used the few shadows to his advantage, and made his way towards the empty shop. He had to wait for a long time before he dared to cross the street. The Death Eaters had moved towards the Shrieking Shack, in other words towards the school-gates. Harry crouched low and ran as fast as possible over the street. He was in the middle of it when a Death Eater exited the Three Broomsticks and looked around. Harry threw himself on the ground and laid as still as possible, hardly daring to breathe. He had to keep himself from yelling in surprise as he came face to face with a chopped off head, the worst thing was that it has once belonged to a child. Dead, brown eyes stared at him. The Death Eater passed him by a couple of feet when he headed towards the rest of the group. _

_When Harry was sure that he was gone, he got up and sprinted to the safety of the shop in front of him, forgetting to lay low. He had had enough of that for a while. He hurried down the steps and into the safe darkness of the cellar. He fumbled around for a bit before he found the trapdoor. Harry closed it after himself, took out his wand and said 'Lumos'. The tip of his wand lit up in a blue, soft light. The young man hurried through the tunnel as fast as he dared to, sighing gratefully when he reached the other end. He climbed the short ladder and opened the hump of the one-eyed witch. _

_Harry got out as fast as possible, and closed the hump after himself. Then he headed towards the Headmasters office. He was met with the usual gargoyle that had been guarding the office last time he had been there, and probably would the next time he dropped by. Now there was the problem with the password. _

_ "Um, Chocolate Frogs?" He tried. "Liquorice Wands? Ice Mice? Bertie Bott's Every-Flavour Beans? Lemon Drop?" the gargoyle looked bored and yawned. _'Why me?'_ Harry thought to himself. "Ton-Tongue Toffee? Pumpkin Pasties? Drooble's Best Blowing Gum?" that did the trick. "Finally!" Harry muttered to himself and set off up the spiral staircase. He knocked on the door to Dumbledore's office and waited for the familiar 'Come in' before he entered. _

_The room was occupied by Dumbledore who sat behind his desk, Sirius and Remus, McGonagall, Flitwick, Sprout, Vector and about any other teacher in the whole school. They stared at him, then Sirius jumped up and drew him into a hug that could rival one of Hagrid's, the other teachers followed the Animagus' example. Some, like McGonagall, hugged him, others patted his back. Flitwick shook his hand as he was too small to hug him or pat his back. Harry noted that one thing was missing, but couldn't put his finger on it. _

_ "So Harry," Dumbledore began when everyone had calmed down. "What brings you here?" _

_ "Sir, the Death Eaters are attacking Hogsmeade, or were attacking. The Phoenix Agents have taken care of them…I hope. I just came here to deliver the message." _

_ "Well, since you are already here, could you do something for me?" the old mage asked, and Harry nodded. "Professor Snape has been discovered as spy and the Death Eaters have him. He's kept in the Dark Lords fortress, cell 18, floor nr. 2 underground, left wing. I was wondering if the Order of the Phoenix could do something about it?"_

_ "I don't know sir, but I'll ask as soon as I get back." That was what had been mission. There was no sarcastic Potion Master around to make fun of him or insult him. Harry turned and headed out of the door without a goodbye. It had become his tradition after fifth year. It sounded so much like he was leaving for good. The teachers of Hogwarts understood and didn't take offence.  _

_ "Take care!" he heard Sirius yell after him._

_Harry met the Draven and the other four Agents outside the gates to Hogwarts, the Death Eaters lying bound and gagged on the ground beside them. The Agents hadn't gotten too many injuries. Draven himself only had a cut going from the corner of his eye to his chin. It was still bleeding, but nothing was dangerously hurt. The six of them apparated back to the HQ's with the Death Eaters. Harry parted with them at once, and headed towards the commanders office, he had a promise to keep. _

********************

Harry sighed and collapsed onto his bed. The room wasn't big or nicely furnished, but it would do. Snape was looking around the room with disgust. There were two beds with one tiny table between them, on each side of the beds there was a decaying dresser, and that was it. Harry looked up as the other man dropped his belongings on the other bed.

 "Next time, I'm choosing the hotel." The vampire stated. 

Harry just shook his head, all they had to do now was wait.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What do you think?

---------------- 

AFRICAN NAMES:

Lencho: Lion

Nyoka: Snake

Tiaret: Lioness

ARABIC NAMES: 

Khalil: friend 

----------------

Thanks to:

**Richan:** Thanks and I hope you like it.

**Naia:** Thanks. Hope you like this part as well. When are you going to update your own story?

**AtieJen:** :::blush::: Thanks a lot!

**M. Black:** I'm glad you liked it, and be sure to wake BBw and your Muse soon so that you can carry on writing that story of yours. Sorry, I forgot its name, but it's really good.

**Sev Rickman:** Here's more. Hope you like!

**Mistress Creasacre:** The Bloodlust will make an appearance in the next chapter I believe. Is this soon enough?

**lunatyme:** No, he doesn't. He thinks that Harry's just a normal Muggle Slayer.

**Tara-Chan:** Snapey? Well that's a new one. I like it! Hope you like this chapter as well as the last one. 

**emma:** Thanks, and here's more. Hope you like it.

**Kas:** What lines were you talking about? And I'm glad you liked it.     


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I own only the obvious, the rest belongs to JK Rowling.

Author Note: Here's chapter three. I hope you like it and please review.

-Chapter Three-

Harry sighed. Snape could be _so_ annoying at times, and most of those times it was without reason. They were standing on a street-corner a couple of houses away from their hotel, watching everyone who passed. They had no idea if their contact was male or female, heck they had no idea if the person was going to contact them at all! They had been in India for four days now, and still no sight or sound from him or her. Snape was getting grumpier with every minute that passed, and Harry himself was beginning to loose patience with the whole thing. They had decided that if the person hadn't contacted at least one of them within a week of their arrival, they would consider this a dead end and start all over again. 

Harry looked at his clock. It was late and it was getting quite dark. There were less and less people out and about, and lights were going out in houses. The two of them should really get back to the hotel if they wanted to live to see the dawn. 

 "The guy's not coming." Snape said.

 "My thoughts exactly. Lets get back to the hotel." Surprisingly the vampire didn't object, and the two of them set off. They hadn't taken more than three steps before Snape stopped dead in his tracks. "What?" Harry asked. The vampires unnatural sense of hearing was something that he wasn't going to doubt. 

 "Do you understand Indian?" 

 "Most of it, why?"

Instead of replying in English, Snape began to talk in Indian, repeating what he was hearing somewhere in the distance. Harry had a bit of a hard time in the beginning to keep up, but managed to translate most of it. After a while the immortal turned to him, raising a questioning eyebrow. 

 "Well, what did you get out of it?" the man asked impatiently after a while in silence. 

 "Calm down, I'm still trying to piece it together." Harry replied. "Alright, I think I've got it translated," he said after a while. "Something about Khali, some Minister-assassinations and someone getting kidnapped, for meddling in their case. That's it." There was a silence between the two of them. "You don't think they meant us do you?" 

 "How should I know Potter? Unfortunately I can't read anyone's mind, or our work would've been much, much easier. Come to think of it, back in LA while you were glued to the screen of that Muggle contraption, I heard something about Fudge and some other politicians getting assassinated." Snape replied. 

Harry didn't have time to say anything else. Before either of them knew what was going on, they were bound and gagged and not a second later unconscious. 

----------------------------

Harry groaned. His head felt like it was filled with dots of cotton, not a nice feeling. It hurt too for some strange reason. Come to think of it, he didn't even remember going to bed. Had that blasted immortal calling himself Severus Snape killed him or drunk his blood or something? Harry hoped with all his being that he hadn't, it would be too dangerous. Instead of getting panic, he decided to try to remember what had happened last night. That is, if it _had_ happened last night. Okay, Snape and him were standing on a street-corner, waiting for the contact, and had headed back to the hotel after a while of waiting. Then that accursed vampire had heard something, they had stopped, and… Harry's eyes shot open. They had been attacked by a group of people. But how had he missed them sneaking up on them? Or better said, how had the immortal failed to notice them? Something was definitely wrong with the picture.

 "Finally deciding to rejoin the conscious world Potter?" the voice was still biting, but had lost most of its sharp edge. 

Harry sat up and discovered himself on the floor in a round stone-room. He looked up and down the walls. There was no sign of a door, only a couple of windows high up, out of their reach even if he stood on Snape's shoulders, and neither of them weren't exactly the smallest people in the world. The light through the windows indicated that the sun was setting.

Harry looked around the room again. Snape was sitting in a corner of the room, right opposite him, and to tell the truth the man looked down right pathetic. His arms around his knees, he wasn't beaten or anything, neither were his clothes torn, but he was shivering slightly, red drops of sweat running down his face even if the temperature was comfortable. The vampire was also much paler than before, his eyes seemed to have sunken in, and he was definitely thinner than the last time Harry had seen him. The eyes completed the picture. Instead of the normal blackness, the pupils had gotten small silver streaks and spots that disappeared and reappeared as if they were in some kind of void. 

 _'So he's that kind of vampire.'_ Harry thought. _'The bloodlust must be kicking in right about now. I wonder…'_ he stopped looking at the vampire and looked around again. "How much blood do you need to blast the wall out of the way?" 

 "Don't know why you care, Potter, but it'll take almost all the amount of a grown man if I'm right." Snape replied. He was shaking badly by now. "Not that I'll ever munch on _your_ neck, I'd rather die first."         

 "As if I'd ever let you come near me, vampire. What happened anyway? Why didn't you pick up on them?" Harry growled. 

 "Hell if I know Potter," Snape replied venomously, a hard task as he was shaking. "Where in heavens name were the instincts you Slayers are so proud of when we needed them?" 

 "The same place as your vampire-instincts I'd bet, they must've done something to us somehow. Only if I knew what exactly." Harry replied. He tried desperately to keep his annoyance and fear in check. He wasn't too fond of small closed places – they reminded him too much of the cupboard that had been his world for eleven years – and this place they were at wasn't bigger than six meters in diameter. 

Before either of them could say anything else, two people appeared out of thin air. Both of them seemed to wear some kind of strange robes that reminded Harry a lot of monk-clothes. One of them however was also wearing a golden, rather thick necklace and he was also carrying some clothes. Snape didn't even try to get up knowing that he was fighting a loosing battle with his bloodlust. He would die if he didn't get some blood, and soon. 

 "How nice of you to wake finally wake up," the one with the golden chain said. "It was about time too, the ritual that will take place in a couple of hours needs some sacrifices. Now, you will be wearing these for that," the man, whoever he was, handed Harry two white robes with golden patterns, "we can't have those common clothes taint our pure house and give the younger members unclean thoughts."

 "Hold it there Quasimodo, who exactly is getting sacrificed?" Harry asked refusing to take the robes or whatever they were.

 "You two are, snake!" the one without the golden chain replied hotly. "And don't you dare to speak to his Eminence like that!" 

 "Hey calm down buddy," Harry said, "I was just curious." 

 "We will be back when the moon is high on the skies, and you two better have the ceremonial clothes on by that time or you will not get the honour of being sacrificed to the great Kali." The one with the golden chain said, put down the robes and both of the monks disappeared. 

 "Great work Potter." Snape said sarcastically. "I think you pissed them off."

 "At least it made them go away, and it gave us more time." Harry looked at the vampire, then out the window high above him. The full moon shone through it, illuminating the room in a mystical light. Harry made up his mind right then and there. "So tell me Snape," he began in a conversational tone. "Why did you become a Death Eater in the first place? Did you want the power of just to kiss Riddles ass?" 

 "Potter," the vampire growled warningly. The silver streaks becoming permanent.

 "Tell me, how did it taste?" Harry continued ignoring the other man, and ignoring his Slayer-instincts that had gone haywire. 

 "I'm warning you."

 "You know, I've always wondered why you called yourselves 'the Death Eaters'. Were you cannibals or something?" he cast a look behind him. Snape's eyes had gone completely silver, a sure sign that the bloodlust was taking over. Harry turned his back on the vampire, even if it went against everything he had learned. "Did you enjoy licking Riddles boots and then being put under the Cruciatus because the Dark Idiot wasn't satis-" Harry didn't get longer as two sharp fangs penetrated his neck. 

Harry strived to keep his hands at his side, his nails making angry, crescent shaped marks in his palm. Only once had he done this before, and he hadn't been eager to repeat it. The pain was almost unbearable. He could feel his blood getting sucked out of him. He hated doing this, but it was necessary.

----------------------------

Severus had spent most of the time in the cell wondering how they had managed to get captured, and where in heavens name were they? Then Potter had woken up, and everything had gone from bad to worse. Those two monks, or whatever they were, didn't expect him to really wear white? Come on, even Severus himself knew that the colour didn't fit him – and the vampire didn't even care that much about clothing. As long as it was black, he was happy. 

He was dragged out of his thoughts by Potter. The brat had just mentioned 'Riddles ass' and 'kiss' in the same sentence, a mental image that Severus could happily live without. But the little idiot didn't stop there, he continued insulting Severus in a manner that could only be expected from a Slytherin. Severus had tried to warn the Slayer, who had ignored everything. And now Severus was sucking the life from the younger man, and he was loving every minute of it. 

After a while two things dawned on the vampire. One: Potter wasn't fighting him, and the second thing was that the brat was still alive, breathing normally still standing there without any help from Severus himself. The blood was still flowing lively, and didn't seem like it would stop anytime in the close future.

Severus forced himself to stop drinking and tore away from Potter. The young man opposite him seemed out of breath, but that was all. 

 _'The little idiot!'_ Severus thought angrily. _'He baited me into it. I could've killed him…Or could I?'_ the last thought scared him slightly while at the same time it nagged him. No one had endless amount of blood in his or her body, not even wizards and witches who had more blood than common Muggles. He could feel his strength returning, his powers were back and he felt much better than when he had been drinking from any of his other victims. Potter was leaning on the stone wall for support, eyes closed and breathing fast. The two little holes that Severus' fangs had made were still there, what surprised the ex-Potion Master was that the blood that was flowing from the wounds wasn't normal. It was red alright, but it had some king of golden and silver glow to it. And as Severus watched, the wounds closed on their own accord just like a vampires would, and Potter looked up at him. "That was a very stupid thing you did Potter," the vampire growled. 

 "It got your strength back, didn't it?" the Gryffindor replied, then grinned. "Think you could get us out of here now? We do have a mission to finish, and I dare say that we have made progress." 

 "You've spent too much time with Albus when you were at school Potter," Severus replied, "and I'm not going to ask you what you mean by 'progress'. However I agree that it's time to get out of here, I personally don't fancy being sacrificed to some crazy god or other." 

 "That's the spirit." Potter said cheerfully. The young man was acting as though Severus minutes earlier hadn't had his teeth buried deep in his neck.  

 _'Definitely too much time with Dumbledore.'_ The vampire thought. _'Why do I always get paired with the crazy ones?'_ he sighed and began to knock on the wall every few feet then listened after a change in the sound of it. Nothing happened the first few times – Potter thankfully was keeping quiet apparently realising what Severus was up to – but then on his fifth try Severus found the spot. The sound was hollow, as if there was a corridor behind the wall. He smirked triumphantly. This was bound to get interesting. "Potter, I've found it. And even better, there are some of those crazy monks on the other side." The other man perked up, a devious smirk appearing on his face. Severus swore that the brat belonged in Slytherin looking like that. 

 "Why don't we go and say hi to them?" Potter asked.

 "The smartest thing you've said ever since you woke up." Severus replied, noting that the two of them for once were actually agreeing on something and not arguing. He filed the information away for later, got ready, and pushed the wall as hard as he could. At first nothing happened, but soon the stone began to shake, cracks appeared and in the end it broke down showering Severus, who stumbled forward, in sand and dust. Potter strolled out after him, a dangerous twinkle in his eyes. 

The few monks stared at them in disbelief for a few seconds, then began to run here and there in panic trying to get a way. Both Severus and Potter attacked the monks at the same time. the fight didn't last long and soon ever monk who had been in the corridor was bound, gagged and unconscious. 

 "That was easy." Potter commented. 

 "You spoke too soon Slayer." Severus replied, and a second later the young man could also hear the tramping of dozens of heavy feet coming towards them. 

 "I should've known," the young man said. "Got any idea as to how to get out of here?" 

 "Through the window in the cell."

 "It might work for you vampire, but I don't have your ability to jump that high." 

 "You won't have to Potter, I'll just bring you with me." 

 "Yeah, right, as if I'd ever trust you with that." Potter sneered. 

 "It's either that or being sacrificed to some god, your choice." Severus headed back through the hole in the wall. The running footsteps came closer for every second, and he'd be damned if Potter got him killed. The brat could do whatever he wished with his own life, but Severus was getting out of this place. 

 "Snape, wait!" Potter yelled. "Being sacrificed is not on my to-do list. Neither is being dropped from great height." 

The immortal just rolled his eyes and sighed. Potter could annoy the hell out of him without even trying. The young man was standing next to Severus keeping an eye at the hole in the wall watching their backs. With unnatural speed the vampire hooked an arm around the Slayer, looked up at the window and willed himself to be there. There was a gush of wind and the two of them were on the small, thin windowsill. Potter blinked once, looked down at the floor then at Severus. He was clearly surprised. Severus didn't take much notice of it, he was busy looking out the window at the desert that went on and on and on and on. 

 "Shit!" the vampire turned after the sound. Down on the ground the little army, if you could call it that, was glaring up at them. They were also throwing stones, knives and anything else at them. Potter had a gash on his arm, but the wound was already healing. The younger man raised his hand and a fireball appeared out of seemingly nowhere, then he threw it at the people below. "Jump," he said, "that won't keep them for long." Severus decided that right now wasn't the best time to figure out just how long the fireball could keep those soldiers busy, so he jumped. They landed nicely, though Potter staggered a bit, and Severus let go of the Slayer. "That's the last time I do something like that." Potter growled and looked around. 

 "We can't walk out of here Potter," Severus said as the brat headed in one direction. "Hell, we don't even know where we are."

 "We're in a desert."

 "Thank you for pointing out the obvious, but do you know _what_ desert?" 

 "No, but I can easily figure that out. Now however, what I want to do is get as far away from that tower as possible." Severus had to agree, not that he would ever admit that to Potter.

----------------------------

Harry stopped. They had been wandering in the desert for hours, right ahead the sun was dawning. It was time to get the hell out of this desert. The vampire stopped beside him.

 "So what's the plan?" 

 "We apparate." 

 "I thought you said that the Indian Ministry of Magic has spells against that?"

 "You really think that we're still in India?" Harry asked. 

 "If not in India, then where?" 

 "We're in the Takla Makan desert." Harry replied. "It's way west in China."

 "And how did you find that out?" Snape asked sceptically. 

 "A simple wand-less Location spell." 

 "I'm surprised that you had the brains to cast one."  
  


 "I didn't see _you_ do anything about it." Harry retorted. "Let's apparate back to good old America." 

 "For once Potter, I agree," the vampire growled. "Tell that to anyone, and you're dead within the blink of an eye."  
  


 "I highly doubt that." Harry replied mysteriously and was gone with a pop. 

----------------------------

 "Home sweet home!" Harry exclaimed as he appeared right outside the door to his apartment. 

Snape appeared a second later, looking grumpy for some reason or other.

 "Why didn't you tell me to apparate straight here?" the vampire growled. "Hadn't it been for the fact that I heard you up here, I would've had to climb all those stairs again – a thing that is _not_ on my to-do list." 

Harry just rolled his eyes and put his hand on the doorknob. The hand glowed golden for a second and the door opened. Harry entered, picked up the post that had arrived while he was gone, and continued into the living room leaving it up to Snape to close the door.

 _'Bill, bill, bill, letter from Minerva, bill, bill, bill – where in heavens name do those come from – bill, postcard from Ron, paper.'_ In the end Harry dropped the whole thing on the table in the living room and went into the kitchen to get something to drink. He hated walking through deserts for two reasons. It was boring and you became _very_ thirsty after a while. 

 "Potter, come and take a look at this." Snape yelled from the living room. Harry put down his empty glass and walked out again. The vampire just pointed at the TV-screen. It was the news.

 _"Minister Tai-Li Wang from China was found dead in his office today. He was poisoned and in the same sitting position as the other four. Once again there are no traces of struggle or anyone else in the room. Police however have two suspects."_ Harry's eyes widened as a picture of him and Snape appeared on the screen. _"These two men were seen going in and coming out of the five murdered Ministers offices. Severus Snape is well-known in the underground as the Poison Master. Harry Potter is known a known mercenary, and both of the men are highly dangerous. The FBI has been after them for years now, but every time the two of them get away. Agent McNair said that the two of them have been working together for years, and it seems as though they can read each others thoughts. The two men are also charged for several thieveries of priceless artefacts, and-"_ Harry turned the TV off. 

 "This whole situation just got worse." 

 "No shit, we're officially marked as well known terrorists." Snape replied. Strangely both of them were calm, cool and collected. "Agent McNair huh? Come on, even Longbottom would've thought about changing the name." 

Harry had gone over to the answering machine. He pressed a button and Tiaret's voice came from the Muggle contraption. 

 _"Harry! Where the hell are you? I've been trying to get hold of you for days! If you're listening to this, listen carefully. GET THE HELL OUT OF THAT APARTMENT! You're being watched from every angle possible! You're flamed for murdering not only three Muggle Ministers, but also Fudge, the French Minister of Magic and the Russian one. That Severus Snape seems to be as well known in the Wizarding world as you are. If you are together, then stick together. Vengan tan rapido sea posible, y nosotros veremos que es lo que va a pasar despues. Los introduciremos a Hogwarts si es necesario. Solo salgan de ahi y no se dejen atrapar(1). Take care Lencho."_ And with a click the message ended. 

Neither Harry nor Snape wasted any time. Both of them jumped into action. Harry hurried into his bedroom, opened the closet and pushed the clothes away. In the back there was a tiny Gryffindor lion drawn on the wall, and Harry pushed it. A second later a drawer came out of the wall. Inside there was an old, long box. He quickly grabbed it and ran out again into the living room where Snape was waiting. 

 "Where to?" the vampire asked. 

 "The Orphanage-and-teenage Centre on the outskirts of town, towards the beach." Harry replied. 

 "Open up in there! It's the Police!" the statement was accompanied by vicious bounding on the door. 

Harry hurried over the answering machine and deleted every single message, then he and Snape apparated just as the Police broke down the door. 

----------------------------

I hope you like it. I know, it's not as long as to other two, but I'm trying. 

LATIN AMERICAN SPANISH

(1) Come here as fast as possible, and we'll see about what's going to happen next. We'll smuggle you to Hogwarts if need be. Just get out of there and don't get caught.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed:  

              

**lunatyme: **Only the name.

**Biggreenman:** ::blush:: Thanks and I hope you liked it.

**Mistress Creasacre:** All in good time.

**M. Black:** Tiaret's going to pop up from time to time. How do you survive with those two muses of yours?

**izean: **Is this soon enough? And I'm glad you liked it.

**Tara-Chan:** Thanks, I hope you like this chapter as well.

**Deity:** Hope you like it.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I own only the obvious, the rest belongs to JK Rowling.

Author Note: Here's chapter four. Hope you like and please review.

-Chapter Four-

Severus appeared again in the middle of some trees in a park, Potter was beside him a second later. The two of them sneaked through the park, Potter first and the vampire following. When they reached the road Potter stopped. 

 "Got any great idea as to how to get _across_ the road?" Severus whispered. 

 "Yeah, just run across when there's no cars around to run you down." Potter replied sarcastically. "We could apparate hadn't it been for one fact."

 "Which is?"

 "There are apparation wards all over the building. I put them up while I helped them redecorate." The Slayer said.

 "Great." 

 "Of course there is the secret tunnel that goes _under_ the road. We could take that one."

 "Where does it end?" Severus asked. "I don't want to get caught because of your stupidity." 

 "In the basement of the house. Shouldn't be too difficult to get in." Potter replied quietly.

 "Where is this Miracle Tunnel of yours?" 

 "Follow me." 

The vampire followed the young Slayer to a bench in the park. There was nothing different nor special with the piece of wood, but Potter seemed to know what he was doing. He put his hand on the back on a drawing of a Chinese dragon, and the bench glowed golden before it swung away along with some of the ground it was standing on. As far as they could see there were steps leading down into the darkness, and not even Severus with his unnaturally sharp sight couldn't see more. 

Potter went down without a second thought, then looked up when the vampire didn't follow. 

 "Are you coming or not?" the young man asked. "I built the tunnel myself, so its safe."

 "That's what's worrying me, that you built it." Severus replied. He began climbing down the steps, checking every step thoroughly before put his whole weight on it. When he was a couple of steps down the top swung back in place, and nothing could be seen. "Potter, did you have enough brains to put some light down here?"

 "I doubted that you vampires had the ability to control the Elements Snape," came the reply from somewhere in the darkness underneath him. "Prove me wrong vampire." It was a challenge.  

_ 'The annoying, obnoxious brat has a way for tricking me into things. Just like Dumbledore.'_ Severus thought as a fireball appeared in his pale hand and illuminated the tunnel. Potter was waiting for him at the bottom, the green eyes acquired a mystical glow when the light from Severus' hand hit them. "Well, what are you waiting for?" Severus asked as he came to the bottom. "Lead the way." He was a bit disappointed to see that the usual glared that scared the hell out of the staff at the HQ's didn't work on Potter who just rolled his eyes and started walking. 

It didn't take them more than a few minutes to reach the other side. And yet again there were steps to be climbed. Potter went first and opened the trapdoor then held it open as Severus came through, nearly hitting the vampire when he let go of the door. Severus glared murderously at the Slayer who didn't take notice. 

 "Sorry." Potter said in a way that clearly stated that he didn't mean it, and started walking towards the door opposite them. 

 _'Wonder if anyone would miss him if I killed him?'_ Severus thought then followed. 

Once out in the corridor and after another flight of stairs, the two of them came into the corridor that led to the orphanage's common room. The two of them hid in the shadows and carefully made their way towards the door at the end of the corridor. Happy voices floated out to them through the door, a nurse or child leaving or coming now and then. 

Suddenly a black little woman that reminded Severus of Mrs Weasley exited the room and Potter seemed to relax slightly before tensing up again. Just as the woman passed the storeroom where they were hiding, Potter's arms shot out one placed over the woman's mouth and the other quickly dragging her into the room. Severus closed the door after that.

 "Relax Momma Juji, it's me." Potter whispered and at once the woman turned in his grasp and gave him a hug that could rival one of Hagrid's. 

 "Oh Harry," she cried. "We've been so worried for you! How could anyone think that you were a mercenary. And that other man, Scary Soup or whatever his name was, I guess that you know him?" 

 "Yes I do." Potter turned the little woman towards the vampire. "Momma Juji let me introduce to you Severus Snape. Snape, this is Momma Juji. She's the one who runs this orphanage." 

Momma Juji came over to him, grabbed his hand and shook it with more strength than Severus had thought she had in her. 

 "Thank you for keeping Harry safe." She said with tears streaming down her face. "I don't know how to repay you."

 "Maybe we could stay here for a while Momma Juji?" the Slayer asked. "At least until we know where to go next." 

 "Why of course you can Harry, we owe you _so_ much. It's the least we can do. The kids have missed you, you know. We'll talk about that later, right now you both a re to come with me. You both need a bath, new clothes, food and lots of rest. We'll see what we're going to do with you tomorrow when you're rested. Come along."

Severus looked over to Potter as the woman pushed them out of the room. The young man was smiling and shaking his head fondly at Momma Juji who was still talking and pushing them along. 

 "Calm down Momma Juji," Potter said in the end with a laugh. "We aren't children." 

 "You certainly act as one at times Harry, now shut up and let me continue with my Mother-Hen mood. Someone's got to spoil you." That only made the young man laugh more. 

-------------------------------

 "So there you have it Momma Juji," Harry said. "The guy that wants our heads is an old enemy that was in jail 'till three weeks ago." They were sitting in the orphanages common room; all the children and the other nurses, except them, were asleep. 

 "Yes, being former members of the Secret Service must've gotten you two powerful and dangerous enemies." Momma Juji said. "All I'm happy for is that you are here now, that means that you know how to avoid the Police – thank heavens that they aren't too smart – and  that you know how to survive being hunted at. Mr Snape, do you have any plans for where to go now?" she asked turning to the silent, black-clad figure in the shadows. 

 "We're going to visit a couple of friends of ours." Snape replied. "It's better that you don't know anything more, it'll only put you and this place in danger." 

 "When are you leaving?" 

 "As soon as possible, maybe tomorrow night or even tonight." Harry answered the question. "It all depends on what happens next."

 "Are you going to take farewell with the children?"

 "I don't think so Momma Juji," Harry said. "I hate goodbyes more than anything else. It makes me feel as though I'm never going to see you again. And besides, it's better for them not to know that we've been here. It'll only put them in the crossfire. And-"

 "Quiet!" Snape cut him off suddenly. The tall man was on his feet and by the window before you could count to three. "Damn, there already here." 

 "The Snakes?" 

 "Who else? The Police?" 

 "Momma Juji, do you trust me?" Harry asked turning to the woman. She looked surprised and confused by the question, but nodded firmly. "I mean really trust me?"

 "Of course Harry. Why wouldn't I?" 

 "Then you'll forgive me this. _Obligate!_" Harry said sadly, producing a wand seemingly out of nowhere. Then he sat Momma Juji down in the chair and gave her the knitting. The woman took it and happily began to knit. "Lets go Snape." 

 "I was thinking about staying, but oh well…" Snape replied in a tone that dripped sarcasm. 

 "I only hope that she and the children will be left unhurt." Harry mumbled as he led the vampire through the house and out on the back. 

 "They probably will. The Death Eaters can't afford to attract more attention, the thing with giving our pictures to the Smuggle TV station went way beyond what I thought they would do." Snape replied just as quietly. "Do you know where we're going?" 

 "Of course I do. We're going to New York, to the east corner of Central Park." With that Harry was gone with a pop. A second later he was surrounded by tall trees, not far away the traffic was going here and there. Snape appeared beside him a second later. 

 "Where to now?" 

 "We wait." Harry replied. 

 "For who and how long?"  
  


 "What's this? Twenty Questions? Relax, and trust me." 

 "I'll trust you the day I die."

 "You're already dead." 

 "I give up." 

-------------------------------

Tiaret Ade was a normal woman, there was no doubt about that. She was as normal as you could get. She had shoulder-long dark-brown hair that was always worn in a ponytail, and coffee-brown eyes that twinkled mischievously. Her face was normal, nothing weird about it, nor was it anything weird about her body. It was a perfectly normal female body, just normal. Her clothes were also normal for that matter. A black T-shirt and dark-blue jeans, plus those white and blue Nike sneakers she was so fond off. Nope nothing wrong at all. Except for the fact that she was pale, the colour of pure white marble. Her skin seemed to glow in the moonlight and attracted quite a few stares as she walked down the street; heading for Central Park. 

Most people looked away quickly, thinking she was one of those Goth-people or something. Others kept staring and staring, and didn't even try to hide it. It annoyed her to no end, but there was nothing she could do about it. Ever since _that_ had happened – Harry was as usually involved – she had been paler than a sheet. Harry. The reason she was out tonight and had had to cancel a girl-night with her friends. Typical. That idiot always managed to get into the weirdest of situations, either he wanted it or not. Well, he was also the one that had saved her when _that_ happened. 

 _'How in heavens name he managed to get the Death Eaters after him when the Commander always tries to keep him away from them, is way beyond me.'_ Tiaret thought as she waited for the light to turn green so that she could cross. _'And then of course he has to be labelled as a known mercenary and that Severing Snip-whatever-his-name-is gets into trouble with him. And in the end I have to get him out of it. Typical.'_ She crossed the street along with the other dozen or so people and quickly headed to the east corner of the enormous park. _'He better be there.'_

Earlier that day she had gotten a note from him.

_'East corner of Central Park. Tonight sometimes after eleven._

_Lencho.'_

That was all the note had said, and the worst thing was that it had dropped out of thin air and right into her dinner which consisted of a homemade tomato-soup. She had to admit that it was good to hear from him again, at least it meant that he was somewhere safe at the time. 

She rounded a corner and after a few steps was standing beside a bench on the east corner of Central Park. 

 "Lencho?" she whispered. 

 "I'm here." He stepped out of the shadows to her right and at once she hugged him. "Hey easy! Down girl!" she glared, but smiled after while. 

 "Nut-headed idiot. It's good to see you again, but sad that it has to be under these circumstances. Have you heard about that Severing Spew-guy?" Tiaret asked as she stepped back from him. Harry laughed for some reason or other. 

 "This is getting to be quite the tradition, eh Snape?" he looked over his shoulder and she followed his gaze. And there, in the shadows, stood a vampire. The black eyes bored into her with a force she had never felt before. "Tiered, this is Severus Snape. Snape, this is Tiaret Ade. Now, I trust you both not to fly at each others necks while we're together?" 

 "Severs Snipe?" Tiaret asked. "Isn't that the guy that taught you in Potions at Hogwarts?" 

 "Yep." 

Tiaret walked up to the man in the shadows, and stuck out her hand. A surprised look came over him before the emotionless mask was back in place. He didn't take her hand, so she dropped her own back. 

 "I have to thank you for teaching him so well," she said. "Harry's potion-making abilities have saved my life more times than I can count." Now the vampire looked completely surprised and shot a look at Harry. "What?"

 "I'm surprised that Potter actually remembered something from those lessons. And I'm also wondering why he never demonstrated those… skills… in class." 

 "Be that as it may," Harry cut in, "I suggest to go back to your apartment Ti, and continue this discussion there."

 "The wisest thing I've heard you say in days Potter." Snape sneered. 

 "I agree with the vampire, just wouldn't put it that way." Tiaret said. "Now, I brought two Invisibility cloaks, one for me and one for you Lencho. But now that Snape's here too he can take mine and I'll go without." She stuck her hand into her jeans-pocket and started to search for the two cloaks. She had hundreds of things in her pockets that she had shrunk. "Aha!" she drew out two cloaks, tapped them with her wand and gave them to the two black-haired men. As she gave Harry his cloak she leaned up close. "What's going on here? Why are you paired on this mission with a vampire? Has he drunk from you?" 

 "Later Ti, later. Maybe when all of this is done? By then, hopefully, I myself will have all the answers and will be able to give them to you." Harry replied. "Now lead the way."

Tiaret shook her head and started to walk, knowing that the other two would follow on their own accord. She crossed the street again – she hated the black and white stripes, and the fact that you had to wait until the light turned green – and went on towards her own apartment. As usual there were people who stared, or who took her for a Goth and turned away in disgust. And all of this was _His_ fault. Damn vampires. 

***********************

 "I'll take the back, you go around to the front." Tiaret whispered, Harry nodded and was off like a shadow before she could blink. How he managed to walk just as silently as the creatures they hunted was anybody's guess. 

_Tiaret slowly made her way to the backdoor of the old stone-building, tightly clutching her thin, silver sword. She took a deep breath, said a prayer to a God she didn't believe in, and kicked the door open. There was no one there, only Harry who stood in the same position right opposite her. _

_The two Slayers slowly and warily entered the bare room. There wasn't even a piece of furniture left, just old planks and old glass lying around. It was hard to believe that this house had been inhabited and clean just a couple of months before. _

_ "I'll go into the basement, you take the floors above. We'll meet here as soon as possible." Harry said quietly and she nodded. "And Ti," she turned to him, "Don't try to take out a dozen vampires on your own; no one is that good."_

_ "Deal. I'll only attack vampires if there are more than a dozen in one group," she teased. "Relax Lencho. Now lets get going before all the vampires get away." He just rolled his eyes at her and shook his head fondly, then was gone before she could blink. She really hated that ability of his. _

_Tiaret followed the stairs upstairs, her Slayer senses on maximum alert. There was nothing on the second floor, nor the third one. On the fourth floor she found an old doll, the dolls dress torn and dirty. She took it with her on impulse. Then she continued to search through the floors. Nothing happened until the sixth and last floor. She opened a door, weapon ready, only to stop up and gape. _

_Looking out the once-boarded window stood a man with skin the colour of the whitest marble. He was tall and thin, wearing a black turtleneck, black jeans, shoes and a black trench-coat. The blonde, almost white, shoulder-long hair was pulled back into a loose ponytail, the long, elegant arms crossed at his chest. He was staring out the window at the traffic below looking like a statue, not paying any attention to her. _

 'Of all the things I could encounter I had to end up with one of the Old Vampires! Typically my luck.' _Tiaret thought. She put her sword away and drew her stake with the golden point. It didn't seem right to kill something as old as this with the normal silver-pointed stake. She drew her arm back and threw it; the stake went out through the window. The vampire was gone. _'Oh shit.'_ Was all she could think off. If there was a bee in the room, you'd like to know where it was. And especially if it was an angry bee. _'Where is the bloody vampire?' _she ventured further into the abandoned room. _'I wish Harry was here. He's good at getting in and out of situations like these. It's his department, not mine. This is not good.' 

_She took another couple of steps into the room. Still nothing happened, but she didn't relax. Her Slayer senses were working overtime, telling her that the vampire was still close enough to be a threat. She only hopes that Harry hadn't met up with him. Tiaret walked over to the window and stared down at the traffic – _'Just to make sure he isn't hanging there or flying around.' _– but there was nothing there either. She sighed, but didn't know if it was in relief or sadness that he was gone. Something drew her to the vampire, and she didn't like the feel of it. _

_It went faster than anything she had ever experienced in the past. One moment she was holding her sword ready, staring down at the traffic and in the next her sword was stuck in the opposite wall in to the hilt. The vampire stood in front of her, the blue-grey, unnatural eyes boring into her own. _

_She had no idea how old he might be, but one thing was certain. He was powerful, very powerful and not someone one wanted to have as an enemy. Tiaret gulped and took one step backwards; she couldn't tear her eyes away from his. Just as she was going to turn and run – her pride could go to hell – he attacked and she felt two sharp teeth penetrating the skin on her neck. The force he attacked with sent her backwards and into the wall behind her. one of his long-fingered, elegant hands were surprisingly gently holding her chin, while the other was keeping her body close to his. She couldn't do anything else but beat and claw at his back, but the vampire took no notice. Her mouth was open in a silent scream. _

 'Harry you better get your ass up here as fast as possible!'_ Tiaret thought and suddenly, through the haze that had begun to set over her senses, she heard running footsteps. First up the stairs, then through the corridor coming closer and closer. _

_ "Hey!" the yell was all the vampire had before Harry attacked. The vampire jumped away from the sword that would've chopped his head off and out the window. Harry turned to Tiaret and helped her up from the floor. "What happened?"_

_ "It was one of the Old Vampires, and…and…h-he drank from me."_

_ "Yeah, I can see that. But why did he drink?"_

_ "Maybe he was hungry?" Tiaret suggested as Harry led her over to her sword, drew it easily out of the wall, and led her out of the room and down the stairs. There was no sign after the vampire. _

_ "You know that the Old Vampires don't have to feed, they don't need it." Harry replied as he helped her down the last steps out the house. _

_ "But why then?"_

_ "Well, I've heard about this happening a couple of times before. But it can't be what I think it is. It's forbidden, and it hasn't happened for a long time and almost no one find one-"_

_ "Lencho, shut up and tell me what you're babbling about." She cut him off._

_ "Alright, but promise me not to freak out; if you do I'll stun you." _

_ "Yeah, yeah, whatever."_

 "I think that the vampire – whoever he was – just Bonded himself to you. I can see you didn't understand that. I'll put it in terms you can understand. He chose you as his wife." There was a long silence between them. Tiaret was paler by the second. "Um, Ti?" Harry asked uncertainly. In the nest second he had a pale, unconscious woman in his arms.

***********************

Tiaret sighed and unlocked the door to her apartment. That had been three years ago now, and she was still fighting the call of the Bond. The Old Vampire – she still didn't know his name – was always following her around, no matter where in the word she went. It was becoming tiring and old. She needed to find a new way to fight the Bond. And what was worse, Harry seemed to have landed in the same situation as she was in. 

-------------------------------

Well, what do you think? Sorry for the long delay, but you know how school is. 

Thanks to everyone who reviewed. 

**Sev Rickman:** This has nothing to do with the other stories. Um, 'really getting off the ground'; is that a bad thing or a good thing? 

**~*Moony*~:** Thanks, and I don't mind. Again thanks and I hope you like this.

**J. Lynn:** Hope you like it.

**Deity:** Thanks, and here it is. ::Superman music being played in the background::

**Tara-Chan:** All in good time. Here's the chapter and I hope you like it.

**WM:** Thanks. 

                   


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I own only the obvious, the rest belongs to JK Rowling.

Authors Note: Sorry for the long wait, but I hit one hell of a dead end with this story. I'll try to get the next chapter out sooner, but make no promises.

-Chapter Five-

Severus was in the process of pulling the huge, borrowed _beige_ sweater over his head, when the conversation from the kitchen actually turned interesting. 

Potter and that Ade-girl had mostly been catching up with each other ever since he had stepped into the bathroom, and had nearly bored him to death. Now however, Potter had started a conversation that involved vampires, and he couldn't help but pay attention. 

----------------------------

 "So, that Old Vampire still chasing you around?" Harry asked. 

 "Yeah, unfortunately." Tiaret replied. "We've had a couple of run-ins with each other since last time, and every time he came out as the victor." 

 "Does he have a name?" 

 "Yeah, his name's Ignatus. He's around 2000 years old, maybe even more." 

 "You don't have to fight it you know," Harry commented when he saw the tired expression on his friends face. "Why don't you just give in and accept it?"

 "Lencho, when have you ever seen me give in without one hell of a fight?" Suddenly she glanced slyly over at him. "And what about that handsome Potion Professor of yours? When are you going to admit that he has chosen you as his mate?" 

 "I haven't the faintest idea of what you're talking about." Harry replied. "Look, we were in deep shit, literally, and the only way to get out was for him to blast the wall out of the way. So I let him drink… no, better said – I baited him into it." 

 "No matter Harry," Tiaret sounded extremely wise when she said that. "You two belong together and _will_ end up together, whether you know it or not. Trust me, I should know."

 "Says the girl who refuses to give in to the vampire who chose her as his mate." 

 "Hey! He's 2000 years older than me. I set the border at eight years tops." There was a long comfortable silence between the two old friends. "What are you going to tell him about the blood?" 

 "The same thing I told your Ignatus," Harry replied calmly, "but I highly doubt that now is the time to talk about that; he's in the room next to this one, and you know how thin these wall are. And even if they hadn't been thin, I wouldn't be talking about it; he's a vampire, walls pose no problem to his hearing." 

 "Yes, that's perhaps wisest in this case, but I think Ignatus knows about the blood."  
  


 "What lead you to that conclusion?" Harry asked with interest. 

 "Well, it was one of our little run-ins…"

********************

_Tiaret sighed as she entered the old cemetery. Trust the Board to send her to Transylvania in pursuit of some fledgling vampire-wizard. Why couldn't Harry have been here with her? He was the wizard of the group after all! _

_The cemetery was extremely old and unused; the headstones and tombs covered with rotting vines and leafs, a thick fog sneaking its ghostly fingers amongst the stones. The little church had burned down long ago, and only the skeleton was left like an open wound in the countryside._

 'Get in, kill the vampire and get out!'_it was quickly becoming her mantra. _'In fact, I wouldn't mind jumping straight to the 'get out' part.'

_Tiaret carefully began her search for something that could give her a clue if a vampire had used this place for nap-times lately. Her Slayer-senses were working overtime, and she nearly jumped at every sound. A cold, dead wind was blowing over the place. _

 'Heeeeeeeeere vampy, vampy, vampy!' 

_She quickly hid behind a tomb as approaching footsteps alerted her to another persons presence. The Slayer looked around the corner and spotted an old lady walking towards her. The woman was dressed in old, worn robes; her matted, grey hair placed in a tight bun on the back of her head; the face was in shadows._

 'What are you doing here old woman?' _Tiaret thought to herself. She wanted to go over to the lady and literally shake some sense into her. _'I don't have time to strike up a conversation, or follow you back home!'

_There was something off in the way the old woman moved. She seemed much too agile for her age. Just as this fact registered into the young woman's brain, the old one looked up and straight at her. Tiaret stared into a pair of dead eyes, shining like cat-eyes in car-light when the moon hit them. _

_The Slayer barely had time to ready herself before she was wrestled to the ground by two thin, but inhumanly strong hands. She drove the stick time and time again in the vampires chest, but nothing helped; the fangs were getting too close to her neck for Tiaret's liking. _

_ "Why does this always happen to me!" she growled to herself as she tried to push the vampire off her. "Get off old coot! … eeeew! Ever heard about toothpaste or mint humbugs?" _

_Suddenly the hag of a vampire flew into the air as if a big invisible fist had hit her, and landed several yards away from the Slayer – who took this break to get her breath back. _

_Tiaret looked around, but couldn't see anything. Then she turned and looked behind her. The Old Vampire that had been following her for two years now was standing there, looking extremely pissed off. He was glaring over her head at the old woman who was picking herself off the ground. The woman glared right back; a red, mad tint in her eyes. _

_ "Get out of the way Tiaret." The voice of the Old Vampire was calm and reassuring yet commanding. "This is a fight between immortals." _

_For the first time in her life, Tiaret listened to a vampire and hurried out of the way. She seated herself on the top of an old tomb, and eagerly awaited for the fight to begin wishing she had some popcorn and a coke. _

_The Loogaroc-vampire, the old lady, circled tirelessly around her saviour who hadn't even taken up a defensive position; he just followed her with his eyes, carefully watching every move she made. Suddenly she jumped and attacked. The Old Vampire made a fancy motion with his hand and the woman was on fire. Then he made another motion and she was blown several yards backwards, landing with a heavy 'thump'. _

_ "That's it?" the Slayer asked, unable to keep her mouth shut. _

_ "Not really, there's more to come." The Old Vampire replied calmly, never taking his eyes off the Loogaroc. "Enjoying the show?" he asked turning to her._

_ "Yeah, the only downside is that I've no snack around." The only reply she got was a low, amused chuckle. "Watch it!" she yelled out, and just in time. The Loogaroc had used the chance while the Old Vampires' attention had been on Tiaret, to attack. He whirled around and delivered one heck of a blow to the attacker, who went flying once again. _'Okay, _that_ must've hurt!'

_The Loogaroc ran off into the darkness._

_ "Thanks for the warning." The Old Vampire said. "And by the way," he continued. "My name is Ignatus, and not 'the Old Vampire'." _

_ "Hey, I'm no mind-reader. That's your department." Tiaret shot back as she jumped off the tomb and walked over to him. "You're hurt." She said pointing at the long, thin cut down his arm. _

_Ignatus looked at his arm in surprise. "Huh, I hadn't noticed. Not to worry, it'll be gone in one… two… three!" He was right. By the time he had finished counting the wound had healed itself, and the arm was as good as new. _

_ "Wish I could do that," the Slayer mumbled jealously. "Thanks for helping me out." _

 "No problem, I owed it to that partner of yours, Harry." He looked seriously at her. "You are a lucky woman Ti, to have such a special person as a partner." There was a double meaning in those words, but for the life of her she couldn't figure it out. Ignatus grinned, showing off sharp, pearly white fangs. Then he took her hand and kissed the knuckles in an old fashioned French style. "Rest assured my love, I won't tell anyone about his secret." And he was gone into the darkness, leaving a slightly puzzled and overwhelmed Slayer behind.

********************

Harry grinned. He couldn't help it. Trust Tiaret – who hated the old fashioned French romance-crap, as she called it – to be chosen by a vampire who seemed quite fond of the traditions. 

 "What are you grinning at?" she growled trying to ignore the blush that had crept into her cheeks. 

 "You really do love him." Harry said. 

 "Do not!" 

 "If not, you wouldn't have hung around to see how that fight ended, but run off as fast as your legs could carry you. You did that when Mark pulled that vampire off you when we were recruits." The green-eyed man pointed out calmly. "And the fact that you cared whether he was injured or not, well, I'll let it speak for itself." 

 "You know I hate you, right?" 

Harry just chuckled and refilled his cup with coffee. How he had survived without the stiff the first sixteen years of his life, he had no idea. 

-------------------------  

Please review and sorry that this chapter is so short. I know, not much of Severus in this chapter, but I'll try to make it up in the next. 

INFORMATION:

Ignatus: Fiery One in Latin.

Loogaroc: old women who have a pact with the devil.

Thanks to: 

**~*Moony*~, Deity, J. Lynn, Sev Rickman, Tara-Chan, LadyElaine **and **Salazar Serpent.  **


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I own only the obvious, the rest belongs to JK Rowling.

Authors Note: Thanks for all the reviews. Here's chapter six. Hope you enjoy.

-Chapter Six-

Severus waited impatiently for Tiaret Ade to go to bed. He needed to have a loooooooong chat with Potter, as much as he hated admitting it. What was the brat hiding? What was the deal with his blood? Who was this Ignatus? What was this Bonding-deal the two of them constantly were talking about? And what was their next step going to be? This all needed to be discussed without a female Slayer who had enough problems to last her a lifetime, present.

 "So, Harry, what are the two of you going to do next?" Ade asked. 

Well, so much for the no-female-Slayers-allowed rule. 

 "I'm not too sure," Potter replied. "I was thinking of going to Hogwarts and seek out Dumbledores advice."

 "Hmmm, that might be your best choice of action; that is, if our resident Potion Master has nothing to add?" she turned to him, her brown eyes calculating. 

 "If it hadn't been for the fact that Malfoy would expect us to run to the Headmaster, I'm sure it would've been a magnificent idea." Severus replied smoothly from his place in the couch, looking up from the book he was reading. _'The Order Headquarters are out of the question as well.'_ He added silently, hoping that Potter would catch on to the meaningful look he sent him. 

The brat, it seemed, was either smarter than he looked; or had one of those once-in-a-lifetime-genius-moments that Albus Dumbledore was so infamous for.  

 "Yes, that is a point." The young man said thoughtfully. "I guess we can't do anything until the Death Eaters pull their next move." 

 "Or you can cheat." The voice came from the corridor leading to the front door of the apartment. Severus looked up and met a pair of ancient, unnatural, blue-grey eyes that studied him critically for a while, before softening as the Old Vampire smiled. Severus wasn't impressed, nor was he going to let his guard down. 

The vampire in front of him chuckled. //Fine, if you want to play it that way fledgling.// 

He wasn't surprised that the blonde man had the gift of Telepathy. If Ades tale was right – her description on Ignatus had been quite colourful – then this vampire was over 2000 years old. 

Ignatus turned to see Tiaret glaring murderously at him, and Potter watching him with a blank look on his face. It really wasn't a look that fit Potter; it made him look much like Voldemort had in his younger days, before he turned into a snakefaced monster. 

 "Ah, my dear Lioness," the Old Vampire greeted the female Slayer. "Always a pleasure to meet up with you, though we really have to stop meeting for such grave situations." 

 "What the bloody hell are you doing here, you pompous windbag?!" the girl yelled. "And didn't I tell you to knock first and _then_ enter?" she seemed quite flushed about something or other.

Potter adapted a truly evil smirk. "Care to tell us what happened Ti?" 

 "No, not really." Ade turned quickly to the Old Vampire. "And don't you even dare to open your mouth." 

Ignatus just smiled secretly.

Having enough of being overlooked, Severus decided to step into the conversation. He had to be careful while talking to the ancient vampire. Some of the Old Ones tended to develop a hate towards vampires under 500 years; and since Snape himself only had been a vampire for about two years, he was definitely on the black list. 

 "If I may ask, what did you mean by the 'or you can cheat' comment?" he asked as politely as he could. He really hated to submit to people, but he didn't want to die without at least taking Malfoy down with him.

Ignatus mentioned to the two Slayers to come and join them as he sat down in an armchair opposite Severus. "There are certain ways of avoiding Death Eaters that not many people – mortal or immortal – know about. Take us Old Vampires. How do you think we hide from the fledglings who are crazy enough to try to capture us and drink our blood? We have two options. First option is to live together in a big group, but that'd bring the Slayer Organisation on our necks. The second option – and most preferred choice of hiding for most Old Vampires – is to simply make the younger vampires ignore us."

 "Like a Concealment Charm." Potter noted.

 "Almost, but not quite. They see us and they feel our power, but their brain doesn't register what they feel or see; just pushes it away is if we were normal mortals, or an hour-old fledging."

 "I fail to see how this could help Harry and Severus." Tiaret said. 

 "We walk amongst them as if nothing was wrong," Ignatus continued, seemingly ignoring the woman's comment. "Why don't you do the same?" 

 "If we could, Ignatus, we would." Potter replied calmly. 

 "But you can."  
  


Severus looked suspiciously at the old creature sitting at the other side of the coffee table. "How could we accomplish that?" he asked. "We aren't ancient vampires, and the Death Eaters will easily see through any Charm." 

The Old Vampire looked amused for some reason or other. In his opinion, that was _definitely_ not a good thing. Dumbledore had had the same look when he was about to reveal one of his ingenious plans; take the Yule Ball in Potters fourth year. A complete disaster. He was going to end up doing things that he was going to regret later. He just knew it. 

-------------------------

 "Old Vampires have the ability to hide others in the same manner if we so choose." Ignatus watched in amusement as the other three began to understand. He looked closely at each of them. 

First there was his beloved Tiaret who was fighting the Bonding with tooth and claw. She really lived up to her name. She harboured such a strong sisterly love for the young Mr Potter, that it had been the decisive thing to make him meddle once again into mortal affairs, even if he had wowed never to go down that path again after what had happened last time.         

Then there was Mr Potter himself. The man was an exceptionally powerful wizard already, and add to that the Blood he harboured, and you had a creature almost impossible to beat. How the Blood had ended up inside the boy, was still a mystery to him – one he _did_ intend to solve, but still a mystery. 

And last you had the young fledgling. A suspicious, cunning Slytherin who hated everyone and everything, and most of the time loved to scare people out of their wits. How the man loved his Potion-making; the simmering cauldron, the cutting and preparing of the ingredients, then mixing the whole thing together. But it left him lonely, isolated from the world. There was a longing in him that Severus himself didn't know about.    

Perhaps he should have begun to meddle long before now. The Potion Master and the Boy Who Lived had no idea what had happened between them while they had been captured by the Kali-worshipers. Both were made of the same strong stuff that gave a vampire that will to survive through countless centuries; the making of real immortals, just like Tiaret. 

What a weird mix of people they were. 

 "So, what you're saying is that you'd be willing to help us?" Tiaret asked suspiciously. 

 "Of course I'm willing to help you. I have a debt to repay to Mr Potter," Ignatus replied. "But I alone cannot hide the three of you at the same time. We'll need the help of the other ancients." 

 "You mean that the Old Vampires aren't on Malfoys side?" Harry was slightly surprised. 

 "Certainly not. We remember what happened last time we got involved with the wrong side. Albus Dumbledore blasted Grindelwald to the seventh hell!"

Severus Snape looked at him; trying to see through his motive of doing this. Would Slytherins ever learn that not everything was motivated by something else? 

 "When are the rest of you going to meet up with us then?" 

 "They should be here by tomorrow night, my dear," the Old Vampire said turning to the female Slayer. "Nothing to worry about; we're way past the stage of craving mortal blood. Though I must warn you about Connor. He's a bit… grumpy most of the time; kind of like that retired Auror of yours, Mad-Eye Moody."

 "God! Not another Moody!" 

-------------------------

Severus looked at Ade. The woman was banging her head on the table, mumbling something about overly paranoid people who cursed everything that moved. Potter was currently trying to convince her to stop banging her head, arguing that it wasn't going to make it better if she had a headache as well when she met him. Ignatus was just sitting there, watching him. 

Trust Potter to have the weirdest kind of friends. 

How he always ended up with the maniacs was beyond him. 

-------------------------

The rest of the time until dawn was used to roughly plan a few ways to get to Dumbledore, and what to do when – or if they got there. 

Ignatus left half an hour before the sun would rise, leaving Severus together with Potter and Ade. The female Slayer said goodnight, and went to bed shortly after that. 

This was a perfect chance for the Potion Master to talk to Potter, and clear up all this Blood and Bonding business. 

Severus found the young man sitting in the kitchen, drinking coffee and watching the sun rise over the rooftops. 

 "Anything on your mind, Snape?" the brat asked without looking up. 

 "I have a couple of questions for you, and you'd better answer them." Severus replied as he sat down beside Potter.

 "Threatening me?" 

 "No, advising you," he said smoothly. 

Potter turned to him and looked him up and down. "Shoot." He said.

 "First of all, what's this Bonding thing? Both you and Ade have mentioned it several times."

 "When a vampire drinks someone's blood but lets the person live, they become Bonded in a way. I'm not exactly sure how it works, but in the end the vampire and the mortal end up in a sexual relationship. Most of the time the mortal one of the two becomes immortal so that they can spend the rest of eternity together." Potter looked back at him. "Of course, at times the immortal turns mortal again." 

Severus thought over it for a few minutes. The vampire who had made him had had some time to tell him enough about the vampiric nature to survive in the world; the man had also mentioned something like that. The Bonding – according to the vampire – would occur when it was time for it to, and no one could do anything about it. 

 "Then what is all this blood-talk?" 

 "We're not sure yet," Potter looked extremely thoughtful. "It seems as though I have an endless amount of blood in my body. I can't bleed to death, and no vampire can kill me by drinking my blood. You should've seen the Dark Lords face first time that happened. Quite hilarious." 

 "So, you have this endless amount of blood, no one can bleed you to death, and you have no idea what causes this?" the Potion Master asked. 

 "You got it. We've been through the library in the Slayer Organisations HQs, and I've been trying to find the answer in the Orders HQ whenever I've had the time." The Brat Who Lived glared at him. "You can't tell anyone about this. If any other vampires find out, I'm dead meat." 

What a wonderful way to blackmail Potter. Severus smirked evilly to the obnoxious brat. That particular smirk had made Ministers quiver at what might happen, but Potter just continued to glare. The unnaturally green eyes pierced his walls, and it felt like they were looking into his soul. His smirk slowly disappeared.  

They glared at each other, both refusing to give up or submit to the others will.  

It felt like he was X-rayed. The whelps stare was piercing to the bone. However, Severus refused to give up. The obnoxious little idiot was _not_ going to get the best of him; even if he was rather cute when he was angry. 

He did _not_ just think that.

Did he?

-------------------------

Harry glared at his former Professor. How dare the greasy git even think about blackmailing him! Weren't they supposed to be on the same side in this stupid war? If this kept up he was either going to end up killing the vampire, or jumping off the Eiffel Tower in a suicide attempt. Since he didn't want to give Snape the satisfaction of watching him plunge to his death, the first option was most likely to be used. 

God, how he hated Snape! The man was third on his hit-list, right after Malfoy and Pettigrew. 

And now the vampire just sat there glaring at him. Well, he'd be damned if he gave in to the Potion Freak. A damn good Potion Freak, but still a freak.

Those coal-black, bottomless eyes seemed to draw him in, promising the answer to all the worlds secrets. Now he understood how vampires managed to hypnotize their prey. 

Hold it! That trick had never worked on him before. What was going on?  

-------------------------

There. Finally done! Sorry for the long wait. Please review.

Thanks to:

**Forgotten Loss:** Thanks, and hope you enjoy this as well.

**Deity:** Hope you like it.

**Phoenix Angel:** All in due time, and thanks for the compliments.

**jadeite: **Everything will be cleared soon enough.

**Sev Rickman:** I'm glad you liked it. The Blood will be explained within the next few chapters I think.

**wittchway:** Thanks!

**Sygirl:VALOR: **Hope you like this chapter as well.

**Sandra Solaria Dees: **Hope this is enough Sev for your taste.

**izean: **Thanks.

**Jester also known as Tidmag:** Hope you like this chapter as well, and thanks for the compliments.

**Aurelius:** Thanks!

**Tara-Chan:** I'll explain it as soon as I myself know what the deal with the Blood is.

**Iani Arcilla:** Yep! Best books in the world! And I haven't given up, just not much time to write.

**Water Fire Girl:** Thanks!

**J. Lynn:** Thanks, and here's more!


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I own only the obvious, the rest belongs to JK Rowling.

Authors Note: Sorry for the wait, people; but it's here at last. Hope you enjoy!

-Chapter Seven-

"Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way!" 

Severus groaned as the noise penetrated his sleep-filled mind. He heard Potter shift on the other couch.

"Oh what fun it is to ride in an one-horse open sleigh!" Tiaret entered the room, annoyingly cheerful as ever. "Jingle bells, jingle be-"

"Ms Ade," the Potion Master cut her off. "First of all stop that inhuman screeching; and second, Christmas is still months away!" 

"JINGLE BELLS! JINGLE BELLS! JINGLE ALL THE WAY!" 

"Don't bother trying to shut her up, Sev- Snape," Potter said sitting up. "She always began celebrating Christmas earlier than normal people."

"Three months early?" 

"OH WHAT FUN IT IS TO RIDE IN AN ONE-HORSE OPEN SLEIGH!" 

Potter shrugged. "That's Tiaret for you." 

"Your friends never cease to annoy me, Mr Potter." 

"ALL TOGETHER NOW! JINGLE BELLS! JINGLE BELLS! JINGLE ALL THE WAY!"

-------------------------

Connor turned out to be worse than ten Mad-Eye Moody's put together. The man would jump up ready to fight every time someone got up from the table to go to the kitchen or the bathroom. He kept glaring suspiciously at the two mortals and completely ignored the Potion Master. Severus still hadn't made up his mind of it was a good thing or a bad thing. 

Ignatus had returned right after sunset in the company of three other vampires. There was the paranoid Connor. Kiros who came from Africa. And Valda who had arrived from Norway. The other Ancients had spread out over the world trying to get information about Malfoy's supporters, the younger vampires and what the situation was in the Wizarding World right now. 

Severus, Potter, Tiaret and the four Old Vampires were currently trying to come up with a plan to get to Dumbledore.

"So what I am saying is that even if we have the power to 'hide' you," beautifully pale and slender Valda was saying, "our powers can be stripped away by powerful magic. And the magic surrounding Hogwarts castle is some of the most powerful magic in existence today."

"So we cannot go too close to the school," Kiros continued. "We can go to the outskirts of the village called Hogsmeade; from there you will have to manage on your own."

"If we ever get that far." Connor mumbled as he glared around the room.

"How would we get to the school then?" Tiaret asked. "We can't exactly walk through the front gates."

"And brooms certainly won't work. You're easy enough target as it is, no need to turn you into sitting ducks." Ignatus shot in. "I say we ask the former Professor. Anything useful you can tell us about the school, Severus?"

"Yes, we can't take a Portkey in and none of the fireplaces are connected to the Floo Network." Severus told them. "The last time I was there – around a year ago – the owl post was checked by Aurors first and then handed over to their receivers."

Potter had been extremely quiet throughout the conversation, but now he spoke up. "There's a secret passage from the Shrieking Shack. It surfaces again right under the Whomping Willow. From there we could take a secret passage in to the school itself, and then just use the secret passages and rooms in the castle to avoid the Aurors." 

_'So the brat has some brains up there after all!'_

"Yes, that sounds like a plan." Kiros said after thinking over it for a while. "Now we should have a plan of what to tell Dumbledore once you get there. You will not have the time of the world exactly as the Aurors will with no doubt notice that something is out of the ordinary."

"How about a shortened version of the truth?" Potter asked. 

"What did you have in mind, Lencho?" Tiaret spoke up.

"Something like this: 'Got called on a mission, Malfoy knows something we don't, he's up to something, we're fugitives please help us out'." 

"That sounded corny." 

"Thank you for that assessment Ti. But it's the best-" Potter broke off as a beeping filled the room. He stuck his hand into his pocked and drew out a golden ball, then tapped it with his wand. "Yes?"

_"Hi Harry!"_ it sounded like the Commanders voice, but he was never acting like a hyperactive, sugar-addicted moron. _"Just wanted to call you up and tell you that everything's fine and that I trust you and Severus to do the right thing. Have a nice day wherever you are, don't kill each other and be happy! Bye!" _

Severus and Potter shared a look. "Something's definitely wrong."

"Why do you say that?" the female Slayer asked while edging away from Connor who was bearing his fangs at her. 

"In all the tales I've told about my work Ti, have I ever said that the Commander acts like a… a…" 

"Like Fudge?" Severus suggested.

"Yeah, like Fudge. Well, did I?" 

"No, you usually complain on how stern he is and how he should loosen up and how he never trusts you."

"Exactly."

"Oh." 

"Not to worry," Valda said. "I'll send some of my fledglings over to try and find out what's wrong, you just worry about getting to Hogwarts in one piece." 

"Perhaps we should take a break?" Ignatus said as Tiaret yawned, Potter followed her lead seconds later.

"I second that," the Boy Who Lived yawned once again. "I need a strong cup of coffee. Or maybe two, or three?"

"Make me one too!" Tiaret said from her place. She was leaning her head on Ignatus' shoulder, and the Old Vampire had his arm around her waist. She was on the brink of sleep. 

"Right." Potter got up. "If I'm not back within the next thirty minutes, don't bother to wake me up." 

-------------------------

Ignatus and Tiaret were occupying the couch, the Slayer fast asleep. Valda and Kiros had left to talk to other vampires and human contacts they had around the city. Connor had somehow managed to disappear – which was quite a feat in itself as the man was almost as tall as Hagrid.

Severus was checking out Ade's library. Most of the books there were either on vampire-slaying or they were Muggle fantasy books. He found the whole collection of Tolkien's 'Lord of the Rings' series, even some biographies. 'The Complete Works' of William Shakespeare was there too, though it looked untouched. The most read books in the whole shelf – if he could judge by their condition – was Anne Rice's 'Vampire Chronicles'. 

_'Don't these idiotic teenagers read anything these days?'_ the Potion Master scoffed as he read the titles. 

Humming from the kitchen distracted him, and cut off his tirade about teenagers. 

Severus went to see who the hell had dared to interrupt him and stopped in the doorway to the kitchen, frozen to the spot. 

Potter was walking around fixing something that smelled suspiciously like pancakes – what he wouldn't give to taste them again! – grabbing flour, milk and eggs as he needed them. The wild unruly black hair was spotted with white stripes of flour. How the Boy Who Lived to Annoy Snape had managed to get it there was beyond the vampire, but it looked good on him in an odd kind of way. 

Potter was wearing a white short-sleeved button-down shirt and pants that were loose enough for fighting, yet did not conceal any of his curves. 

He looked simply delicious.

The Potion Master shook his head, trying to get rid of those unbidden, forbidden, disgusting and completely idiotic thoughts. His attention went to what the Gryffindork was humming, and Severus recognised the song as 'A Thousand Years' by Sting.

# 'A thousand years, a thousand more

_A thousand times, a million doors_

_To eternity_

_ _

_A million lived a thousand lives, a thousand times_

_An endless turning stairway climbs_

_To a Tower of Souls_

_ _

_It takes another thousand years, a thousand wars_

_The Towers rise to numberless floors_

_In space_

_ _

_Could share another million tears, a million breaths_

_A million names, but only one truth _

_To face_

_ _

_A million wars, a million fears_

_A million suns, turn a million years_

_Of uncertain turns_

_ _

_I could speak another million lies, a million songs_

_A million rights, a million wrongs_

_In this Battles of Times_

_ _

_But if there was a single truth, a single light_

_A single thought, a singular touch_

_Of grace_

_ _

_Following the single point, the single flame_

_The single haunted memory_

_Of your face_

_ _

_I still love you_

_I still want you_

_ _

_A thousand times, the mysteries _

_Will form themselves like galaxies_

_In my hand_

_ _

_I may be numberless_

_I may be innocent_

_I may know many things_

_I may be ignorant _

_ _

_Or I could ride with kings_

_Who conquer many lands_

_Or will this world of Gods_

_Let it slip my hand_

_ _

_I could be cannon food_

_Destroyed a thousand times_

_World born a fortunes child_

_To judge another's crimes_

_ _

_Or wear this pilgrims cloak_

_Or be a common thief_

_I've kept this single fate_

_I have but one belief_

_ _

_I still love you_

_I still want you_

_ _

_A thousand times, the mysteries_

_Will form themselves like galaxies_

_In my hands_

_ _

_And on and on, the mysteries_

_Will unwind themselves_

_Eternities untold_

_ _

# Till you love me'

Severus just stood there, mesmerised. He had heard the song many times before, it was one of his favourites; but the way Potter sang it so softly… there was just no words to explain the emotions that had welled up inside him. Potter's voice calmed him, yet drove him nuts at the same time. He felt as though he could just stand there in all eternity and just listen to that voice. It made him wonder what it sounded like in the throws of passion. 

_'Where the hell did that thought come from?'_ Snape asked himself as he retreated into the shadows by the door to the kitchen, never taking his eyes off the Boy Who Lived. The brat – boy; no _man_ – was making the last pancake, and the vampire could hear Tiaret moving around in the living room. 

"He's beautiful, isn't he?" the voice was so low that not even a Slayer with their fine tuned senses, could have heard it. It was meant for vampire-ears, and vampire-ears only. 

Severus turned quickly – but quietly – and stared right into the face of Connor. 

"I have no idea what you're talking about." He replied, but against his wish his eyes were drawn back to the black-haired man flipping a pancake onto a plate. 

Connor smiled knowingly. "Who do you insist on fighting to Bond, fledgling? You know how it happened, and you know the consequences if it isn't fulfilled. Could it be that you're afraid?" the Potion Master didn't answer. "You _are_ afraid." It was a quietly pointed-out fact; no scorn, no anger. "Of what?" the Old Vampire asked. "You two are perfect for each other; one's a Slytherin, the other a Gryffindor, with all the qualities that go with those two Houses and then some. Both of you have the makings of true immortals. Sure you were enemies, but that didn't stop Rome and Juliet, so why should it stop you?"

"Mortal and immortal."

"One of you will either turn immortal or mortal when you join fully in body, mind and soul."

"The age difference-"

"-shouldn't and won't matter." 

Severus was growing desperate. Every argument he had Connor just blew out the window. It wouldn't work even if this Bond between himself and Potter was real. One would end up killing the other within the first five minutes. "The war." He pointed out, hoping that it would make the Old Vampire lay off his case. No such luck. 

"It won't last forever." Connor looked at the fledglings expressionless face. "Think over it."

_'Strange,'_ Severus noted when the vampire had disappeared. _'He didn't seem like on the edge of a nervous breakdown.'_

-------------------------

__

There! What do you think?

Thanks to Hippy flower, Sandra Solaria Dees, Rae, Aquaria, Futon, izean, Hunter, tima, Katy999, Glasen Dauthi, crystal 56, Silver Earth Dragon, Tara-Chan, Deityand lilytiger20. ****

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	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the obvious, the rest belongs to JK Rowling.

Authors Note: Sorry for the wait. Hope you enjoy and please review. Sorry for the shortness. 

-Chapter Eight-

Harry had been halfway bored as the vampires discussed the best way to get as far as Hogsmeade. First it was concluded that they wouldn't be able to reach the little town just by walking and brooms were out of the question as the Death Eaters surely were watching out for those. Then they realised that they couldn't buy a car as the Muggles would recognise them from the news. 

 "Well, since you're branded as thieves and murderers already, why don't you just _steal_ a car?" Tiaret looked around the table at the rest of them. 

 "Normally I wouldn't even consider such a thing, but right now it seems like the only thing we can do." Valda said. "That is if none of you have a better idea?" she added looking hopefully at the rest of them. "Right, I guess it's back to the steal-the-car idea. Anyone know anything about cars?" 

 "I do," Harry spoke up. "My godfather instructed me a bit in the summer holidays while I was at school. He had a flying motorbike." 

 "Great, then you'll be the one to jump-start the car, or whatever it's called," Ignatus said. "The rest of us will be creating a diversion so that no one notices."

 "Someone should go with Potter to make sure he doesn't blow himself up." Snape glared at Harry from his chair. The glare however wasn't as deadly as before, and other emotions that the Gryffindor couldn't decipher were thrown into the mix. 

 "Thank you for volunteering for the job, Severus." Snape gaped at the female vampire, but shut his mouth when she glared at him. 

The rest of the night was used to plan the operation out better, and to create a couple of backup plans if something went wrong. They decided to put it into action the next night. 

-------------------------

Harry yawned, Snape rolled his eyes beside him. They were walking through one of New York's darker neighbourhoods looking for a somewhat decent car to steal. Valda and Ignatus were following them, flying over their heads or jumping from roof to roof. 

 "How about that one?" Harry pointed to a black car decorated with orange flames. If Snape declined to steal this car, he was going to the Muggle police to give himself in. It'd be better than walking around with a grumpy vampire, and it was also a much faster way to get to Malfoy sr. 

Snape considered the car. "Looks good enough. Ready?" 

 "As ready as I will be." Harry watched as the two Old Vampires landed on the other side of the street and began using their telepathic abilities. Soon they were surrounded with drug-dealers, murderers, thieves and other general bad people. They were playing a very rich couple who had get lost, trusting on the greedy nature of these humans. 

Harry quickly picked the lock on the door to the car, a trick he had learned from Fred and George Weasley and which had helped him out several times before. Snape was standing guard over him, making sure that no one noticed them. 

After the door of the car was open Harry crept in and started to search for the wires under the dashboard. He found them and searched for the right two to connect. 

 "What's taking so bloody long Potter?" the vampire hissed. "I'm getting several weird and suspicious looks. Hurry up!"

 "I'm working as fast as I can. What's the worst that could happen?"

 "There's a group of Malfoy's fledglings here."

 "Yeah, I guess that is quite ba-"

 "Potter, this is no time for jokes. There really _are_ a group of Malfoy's fledglings here, and we were just discovered." 

Harry looked up and through the window on the other side of the car. Sure enough a group of ten vampires was moving quickly towards them. Ignatus and Valda couldn't help them as they still were surrounded by a crowd of people. 

 "Oh shit."

 "No shit Sherlock. Move in Potter!" Harry scrambled to the passenger seat and Snape got in. "Start this damned Muggle contraption Potter!" Harry quickly bound the two wires he still held together, and the car started. 

 "Since when did you know how to drive?!" Harry yelled as Snape backed straight into the attacking group of vampires. Needless to say that some of them ended up doing one hell of an impression of a pancake. 

 "I don't!" 

 "WHAT?!" Harry stared at the vampire. 

 "I've always been told that I should learn how to drive. How the hell does this thing go forwards?!" 

 "Pull that thing right there!" Harry jumped as a vampire tried to claw his way through the window on his side. His hand went into a pocket and he drew out his wand. the next second he had charmed the car to burn any vampire trying to attack them. 

The victory was short lived as the Potion Master suddenly turned the car in a sharp u-turn, and he was thrown against the door. 

 "Be careful!"

 "Alright, if you want to die be my guest!" the Slytherin replied. "Besides, it looks like Ade's future husband and Valda need some help." The two Old Vampires were being attacked by the group of vampires, the humans had been scared off. 

 "Vampire bowling! Tiaret would've loved this!" Harry looked around for the seatbelt, but found none. _'Oh. Shit.'_

The car shot forwards and straight through the vampire flock. Valda managed to jump onto the roof of the car, but Ignatus was that lucky. He had jumped and grabbed a hold of Vlada's outstretched hand when two fledglings had attacked him. One of them ended up in flames, but the other was soon backed up by the rest of the gang, and the female vampire couldn't burn them all in fear of hurting Ignatus. 

Harry watched the scene through the mirror. His eyes met with the Old Vampires for a second, and he realised what the blonde vampire was about to do. Snape seemed to have understood it too, but he didn't turn the car around. The only thing that indicated that he wasn't happy with the situation was that the pale, long-fingered hands tightened around the steering-wheel. 

Suddenly Ignatus let go of Valda's hand. The Scandinavian vampires shriek could've frozen even Voldemort's blood to ice. The Potion Master was as silent as the grave, and Harry shook his head. He had learned long ago that in war casualties happened and there was nothing he could do about it. He was worried about how Tiaret was going to take this; and he was worried about Ignatus. 

 _'Gods above, what have we gotten ourselves into this time?'_

-------------------------

Tiaret stared at him as though he was mad.

 "Harry, there must be some mistake," she said. "Ignatus can't be captured… he just _can't_!" 

 "Ti-" 

 "No! You're lying! He isn't dead!"

 "I never said he was dead, just that he was captured. He is a strong vampire Ti, he'll pull through." 

 "You're lying." The woman whispered in a broken voice before she ran out of the living room and into her bedroom. 

Harry sighed and sat down on the couch, his face in his hands. 

 "That went rather well, don't you think?" Connor stood on the other side of the room.

 "Oh, go play on the highway." Harry muttered, he wasn't in the mood to fight the overgrown worm with an attitude problem.

 "Creative insult, young Slayer, but I'm not here to fight with you." The Old Vampire walked over to Harry and sat down beside him. "What I want to talk to you about is Severus Snape."

 "What's the greasy git done this time?" the dark-haired Slayer didn't look up.

 "Nothing. I want to talk about the Blood Bond between the two of you." Connor studied the young mortal man. "He really likes you, you know."

 "Yeah, right, and the war will be over when I snap my fingers." Harry snapped his fingers and nothing happened. "See?" 

 "You're just as stubborn as he is! Can't you two just admit it that you're Bonded and spare us all lots of worrying and trouble."

 "As you said: we're stubborn." Harry looked up. "You're wasting your time Connor. Even if the two of us liked each other, others would like the Bond."

 "As if they could've done something about it." Connor scoffed. "And since when have you cared about what others think? Both of you love the other deep down; and god help me, if it takes me an eternity to get you to see that, I'll do it!" the vampire stood up. "Do you love him?"

 "Yes- _What?!_ NO!" Harry glared at the paranoid vampire, but he was gone. _'Shitshitshitshit!'_

And the weird thing was, Connor hadn't acted like an overly paranoid Mad-Eye Moody right then. Funny.  

----------------------   

There, finally another chapter done! Sorry for the long wait on this and the other stories, but I'm swamped with homework. Please review and tell me what you think. Yes, I love vamps; and no, I haven't read those books. Are they good? 

Thanks to:

SpikeXan, Vampyre, Deity, Glasen Dauthi, Maraudersgurl1, rashka, Sophie W., Sorena, Aureliusm Fair Lady Ravenclaw, izean, Silver Earth Dragon, Katy999, atalante, Mairi Nathaira aka Tara-Chan, mystic aura.  


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I own only the obvious, the rest belongs to JK Rowling.

Authors Note: Here it is! Please review. 

**WARNING**: Well, this is it folks. This chapter finally earns the story's rating, so beware. Those of you who don't like it come back next chapter, the others please proceed and review at the end.

-Chapter Nine-

Harry sighed. It had been three days since they had attempted to steal a car and Ignatus had been captured. Since then no one had really done anything except sit around the apartment and try to come up with a plan. Even Snape wasn't up to his usual biting remarks, and was reading Shakespeare's plays and sonnets. It seemed as though that their spirits had gone with the blonde vampire. At least they had managed to get Tiaret to leave her room for more than a quick visit to the loo. Valda spent most of her time with her, while the four males just got bored to death out in the living room. 

 _'This is so unbearably pathetic.'_ Harry growled to himself and snapped _Blood and Gold, the Vampire Marius_ shut. He stood up from the couch, put the book back on the shelf and started to pace. They needed a plan, and they needed it fast. Not only were they fighting the war of the century, something had gone wrong at the Orders HQ's. 

Snape looked up at him. "What the hell do you think you're doing Potter?" the vampire asked.

 "Trying to figure out how to get to Dumbledore. Just because Ignatus is gone, doesn't mean that Malfoy's side has won." 

 "Try not to wear a hole in the rug." The Potion Master said but he sounded strangely relived. When Harry shot him a questioning glance, the man shrugged. "I'm tired of sitting around reading poetry written by some guy who has been dead for five hundred years." 

Harry smiled slightly and they began, going through everything they knew, taking step by step. The vampire went over everything while Harry chronologically wrote it down, and what they thought might have happened, would happen, or what they could do about it. it was a lot easier to have it on paper instead of trying to remember everything all the time.

By the time they were finished his hands hurt from the writing and it was well into the night, but neither of them stopped or went to bed. They needed to have a plan formed as soon as possible, or it would be time out for them, Ignatus, Tiaret, and just about every other Light creature in the world. Harry didn't even want to think of what would happen when – _if_ – Malfoy got to chance to go against the Muggle world. 

 "You realise that we cannot stay here anymore, don't you?" Snape said whilst looking over the list. "We're putting Ms Ade, Valda, Connor and Kiros in too much danger; yet we have to get someone to help us with this." 

Harry nodded. God, how he wished that he was back in school with Ron and Hermione, where his only worries had been not getting caught by Snape, Peeves or Filch and to get a good enough grade to pass the year. His eyes widened. 

 "That's it!" he yelled jumping up from the chair had had sunk into. Snape raised an eyebrow, the black eyes trying to pin his to the chair with needles like a butterfly. "Ron and Hermione! They can help us! Ron's working at the Ministry at the moment, right up there with Mr Weasley and Percy. Hermione is staying at home since she's pregnant with twins."

 "Not bad, Potter, except the fact that their house will be watched." 

 "Yes, that's true, but we can ask for help from Sirius and Remus. Sirius can just use his Animagus form to carry a message to Hermione, and she'll take care of the rest. And if that doesn't work, I can just as a snake to go with the message."

 "Potter, there might be hope for you yet." Snape smirked. "If we use a snake, it will have to be a poisonous one."

 "Why?"

 "I was wrong, there is no hope for you." The ex-Death Eater rolled his eyes. "Because if one of Malfoy's lackeys find the snake, and it bites them, they'll be dead before they can get help." 

 "Oh." 

 "Why do I always end up with the idiots?" Harry ignored the vampire's comment. He couldn't stop smiling. Finally they were getting somewhere! 

----------------------

They left at dawn the next day. 

This time Harry had insisted to be the one driving, and Snape had been forced into the passenger seat. The vampire didn't look happy about it, but Harry's main concern was to get through this alive so that he could wring Lucius Malfoy's neck. 

 "You know where that maniac and the werewolf are at the moment?" Snape asked. 

 "New Orleans." Harry replied. 

 "Don't tell me we're driving across the whole bloody continent just to get a hold of the Canine Duo!" 

 "Ok, I won't tell you." Harry smirked at the other man's expression. 

 "If we apparated there would be next to nil chances of the Death Eaters _or_ the Muggle Police to find us; so tell me, why are we driving?" 

 "The two of them have put up wards over Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Arkansas, Texas and the Mexico Gulf."

 "Why the hell did they do that?"

 "To prevent vampires breeding, keep an eye at the enemy, that sort of thing. What I think is stupid is that you can't apparate in or out."

 "Didn't any of the wizards protest against that?"

 "No, there are only fifteen Light wizards in those states combined, and all of them are in the Order."

 "Then why the hell can't we apparate to the border of Mississippi and drive from there?" 

 "That's another reason why they're there. Malfoy's associates have put up wards over Tennessee, South and North Carolina, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Virginia and West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and several other states." Harry told him. "Or that's what Sirius told me last time we met. I don't know if they've managed to get the states rid of the Death Eaters, but I don't want to take any chances. That's why it's best to-"

 "Travel Incognito." Snape cut him off. The vampire sighed and massaged the bridge of his nose. "This will be a long trip."

 "Not really. In two weeks time we're going to be in New Orleans." 

 "Two weeks!" Snape really did look pained. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The storytelling was interrupted by high laughter from more than just one person. Ron, Draco and Sirius were all holding on to each other, Hermione was – along with every other female in the room – trying to disguise her chuckle with a polite cough. Remus was shaking his head, an amused smile plastered on his face. Percy, Dumbledore and Mr Weasley were both chuckling openly, and Bill and Charlie were making sure that Fred and George didn't do something that could – and would – endanger all their lives. 

 "Sorry Severus," Draco managed to wheeze out. "But that's just so…" he started to laugh again. "It seems like everything went against the two of you on that mission." Was the final message that was delivered after Ginny had cast a Calming Charm on him. 

 "That depends on who you ask." Harry replied. He himself was smiling happily, and he knew that Severus was having difficulty keeping his sour mask on. "In Connor's perspective it was perfect, while in ours – well, you know."

 "The old paranoid git hasn't shut up about it since." The vampire growled. 

 "You know he only does it because he loves to tease you." The Boy-Who-Lived told him. Severus only glared at him. Harry shook his head. "They bicker every time Connor pops up for a chat." He told the rest. 

 "But Harry," Hermione interrupted. "What happened next?" 

 "Quite a lot. But can't we continue tomorrow? I'm dead on my feet." Harry stood up and stretched. 

 "Oh, dear, dear Harry," Fred stepped up to him and slung an arm dramatically around his shoulders. 

 "You have it all wrong." George did the same from the other side. 

 "No, I'm quite certain that I'm pretty tired."

 "No, no! You aren't the one dead on your feet." 

 "That's Snape's job!" 

The twins set off to get a head start on the growling vampire, but to their surprise Alicia and Angelina grabbed their ears just as they ran past them.  

 "You two are coming with us."

 "Traitors!" 

 "Spoilsports!"

 "I'm really sorry about this Hermione." Alicia turned to the brown-haired woman still keeping a steel-like grip on George's ear. "But perhaps it _is_ time to go to bed and calm these two down."

Hermione smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I guess you're right. It's already two in the morning." 

 "Thanks for letting us stay here for the night," Penelope stood up with Percy following her. 

 "Oh, nothing a couple of Expanding and Adding Charms couldn't fix. Now, Albus and Minerva – your rooms are straight down the corridor there, you'll know which is which." She pointed to their left. "The entire Weasley clan – with the exceptions of Ginny and Draco – are on the second floor with the children's rooms. And Ginny and Draco, Harry and Severus, Remus and Sirius – your rooms are at the top floor." 

 "Off to bed everyone." Molly ushered them in their general direction, even the old Headmaster was given a gentle push towards his room. "The sooner we go to bed, the earlier we'll wake again in the morning and get to hear the rest of the story." At those words Fred, George, Sirius and Draco all grabbed their sweethearts and carried them off to bed before anyone had time to open their mouths. 

Harry – standing comfortably in Severus' embrace – couldn't help but chuckle, and soon enough the rest of them joined though the vampire only smiled, black eyes glowing with amusement.  

 "We should be getting paid for this, Sev." He slyly looked up at his mate.

 "With the ideas you come up with at times, I'm surprised the Hat didn't put you in Slytherin." Severus mumbled.

 "It actually wanted to put me there at first." Harry told him. Ron gaped and Severus blinked before scowling. 

 "You actually want me to believe that?" Harry nodded. "Acsi!" 

 "I can prove it to you." 

 "As funny as it has been to see the two of you flirt," Ron stepped in, "I believe it is time for all of us to go to bed."

 "You're right, Ron," Hermione smiled to the rest. "By now all of you should know where everything is in the house and your rooms have already been assigned to you, so all that is left to say is good night." 

 " 'night 'Mione." Harry waved. 

 "It's time we disappeared as well, Arthur." Molly hugged Harry and shook Severus', McGonagall's and Dumbledore's hands. "Good night to all of you." 

 "Well, Minerva, may I have the honour of accompanying you to your humble destination?" Dumbledore held out his arm for the Deputy Headmistress.

McGonagall _giggled_. "You old coot, you're still too charming for your own good." She turned to Severus and Harry. "Don't you two stay up too long now; I still want to hear the rest of the story tomorrow, and it won't help if both of you are too tired to continue." 

The Slayer and the vampire watched the two Professors disappear down the corridor. 

Harry sighed. "You know, I thin those two have had a tad too much to drink." 

 "A tad?" Severus looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "By the looks of it they have drunk an entire bucket of moonshine!"

 "Sev! Be nice!" Harry whacked him lightly on the arm though he was smiling. 

 "I'm as nice as a vampire can get," the reinstated Potion Master glared. "And you weren't complaining about it last night."

 "Last night we were at home and not visiting friends. Besides, you had me thoroughly distracted." Harry wriggled loose from the vampires hold and started to go up the stairs. 

 "If I'd have had my way we would still be at home." 

 "Oh, com on, it's not that bad."

 "Anything involving Albus, the Weasley's, the Canine Duo and the word 'socialising' is bad."  

Harry rolled his eyes. "You're completely impossible, you know that? Now I know why Connor called you a stubborn idiot." 

 "If I may remind you, Mr Potter, he called you the same." Severus closed the door to the room after them and cast a couple of Locking Spells on it, then proceeded to cast a couple of Silencing Charms on the room – both to keep noise out and in. 

 "Yeah, but he was looking at you at the time." 

 "Which means?" the vampire used the darkness in the room to sneak up on his mate. Either Harry wasn't using his Slayer senses or he was ignoring him, because he didn't turn away from the open window. 

 "Between the two of us, you're the most stubborn one." The young man deadpanned.

Severus growled. "It isn't my fault that the Weasley's create chaos everywhere they go, nor is it my fault that there are so many Weasley's in the first place." 

 "Sev, you're getting dangerously close to sleeping on the couch." Harry warned and closed the window. He turned and ran right into the aforementioned vampire. "Let me pass Sev." He said after several tries to get around the taller man. "What the hell are you-" Severus kissed him, cutting him off. 

Vampires craved sex like blood; no sane vampire would let a chance of sexual activity with his/her partner pass, and Severus – believe it or not – took every opportunity he got. Harry could be reading and suddenly he would find himself being shagged to death, or he could be stretching and the same would happen. And the thing was that no matter how hard he tried, Harry couldn't stop giving in to the vampire when he was in this kind of mood. 

 "Guess you're not staying on the couch this time either. Manipulative Slytherin." He mumbled fondly against the pale lips. 

Severus smirked. "Exactly, my dear."  

 "Mmmm… what about the rest of the house occupants?" Harry desperately tried to form coherent sentences. That, however, turned out to be one hard task. Severus was nibbling and sucking at his neck, and at the same time forced him towards the bed. 

 "They" _lick_ "can go" _nibble_ "jump" _bite_ "off a" _suck_ "cliff." At the last word Harry found himself on his back in the middle of the bed with Severus hovering a few inches above him. "I think we deserve this after being forced to tell our… _tragic_ tale. Or at least I do." 

Harry smiled and tucked the long hair behind his mates ear. It didn't help much as it got free almost at once, but it had been worth a shot. Their lips met again and he could feel Severus' fangs tugging lightly at his bottom lip, and a dark growl built up in the Potion Masters chest. Harry knew what was coming. The two of them were pretty much at an equal level on most things, but when it came to potion-brewing or sex, Sev was the dominating one. And one thing that amused the vampire to no end was that the Boy-Who-Lived never gave up his struggle to be on top, even if both of them knew that he would end up pinned to the bed and begging for mercy. 

 "You're insatiable." Harry murmured, his fingers tracing patterns on his mates pale, strong back. Wait a minute, when did Sev undress them? Who cared as long as he continued to do that to his neck. 

The Gryffindor moaned. The vampires long finger had just gently penetrated him and was preparing him, hitting that special spot every time. Soon enough another finger joined the first, and then a third. Harry was by this time hanging on to Severus as if he was a lifeline. 

The Potion Master himself, was trying to keep his compose and take everything slowly, but it was getting harder by the second. He had experienced more sex as a vampire than through his thirty-five years of mortal life, and that was _before_ he had met up with Harry. The young man was like a drug; for every time he tasted it he needed more. 

Most other vampire couples stuck together because of the sex. But Harry wasn't just a sex-toy to him; he was his lover, friend, companion and equal. And those kinds of relationships were few and far between. He and Harry were lucky to have each other, as were Ignatus and Tiaret. 

Severus concentrated on the task at hand: eating the delicious dish Harry ala carte. By the time he was sure that the Slayer was prepared enough, Harry was a quivering and moaning mass under him. The golden skin was slick with a thin layer of sweat, and the pink mouth was slightly open. Severus withdrew his fingers and positioned himself right at the opening, and began to push his hard member into the tight heat. 

Harry moaned and bucked thereby revealing his neck. As every other vampire would've done in the same situation, Severus attacked it and started sucking hard. Harry moaned again, his hands entangled in the vampire's hair. He gasped as he felt his mates fangs penetrate the skin of his throat. Now that Severus had him he didn't have to feed once a year to keep his kills to a minimum. Instead he could feed whenever he wanted just like a normal vampire. 

The speed increased and with every thrust Severus' cock brushed Harry's prostate. Harry's legs wrapped around the man's waist and mumbled, incoherent words could be heard among the gasps and moans. A slowly warming hand crept between the two bodies and grabbed Harry's erect member and started to pump in tact with the thrusts, doubling the pleasure. 

 "Oh… Gods… SEV!" Harry screamed as he came. Severus followed in seconds, shuddering as the orgasm hit and collapsing on his mate.

When the vampire managed to pull himself together he found himself still on top of the Slayer, with Harry gently running his hands through his hair and a gently smile on his face. Severus healed the wound in his mate's neck and got off the younger man, then he spooned around him – an arm placed possessively around the Gryffindor. Harry placed his hand over Severus' and soon both of them were asleep. 

-------------------------

Well, what do you think? I don't think I've blushed this much in my entire life! Anyways, please review. 

I'm begging to get an idea as to why Harry has an endless amount of blood, but I need to formulate it a bit more. So I think that the Blood-thingy will be explained soon enough. Possibly within the next five chapters. 

Also I'm sorry for all the writing mistakes in this and in my other stories. However, I'm currently trying to revamp every single one of them, and that's why it takes me so long to get another chapter out. 

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LATIN:

Acsi: as if 

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Thanks to:                         

Glasen Dauthi Vampyre Katy999 Fair Lady Ravenclaw 

**Mairi Natharia aka Tara-Chan: **Happy now? Lots of Sev and Harry in this chapter!

**SilverYoukai:** Thanks!!!! J    


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I own only the obvious, the rest belongs to JK Rowling. 

Authors Note: Well, here's the next chapter. Read and review!

**APOLOGIES: **I'm not familiar with American cities, roads, etc. so please don't take offence at anything you read here. 

-Chapter Ten-

The next time Severus opened his eyes, the sun was on its way up and shining right into his face. Harry was snuggled up in his arms and was sleeping peacefully. He smiled at his mate and hugged him even closer.

After a few minutes of trying to go back to sleep and not succeeding because of that blasted sun, the vampire decided to do something creative with his time instead of getting bored to death, and attacked the Slayers earlobe. 

The Gryffindor moaned and turned to his back. At once Severus attacked the others delicate neck and sucked. "You really are insatiable." Harry's hands weaved into the silky hair of his lover then slid out and started to trace patterns on the pale back. 

 "Correction, beloved, I'm a vampire."

 "Yeah, a horny one." He received a bite for that one and retailed with suddenly pushing the vampire off and trying to get out of bed. 

Severus growled and the hunt was on. 

It was a game they often played. Since vampires and werewolves were closely related, vampires had some wolf-like qualities. Like any normal hunter they loved the chase, but it was the prize that was sweetest. If Severus managed to catch Harry – something that he always did – he had the rights to do whatever he wanted with him. That usually involved another great shagging-section plus something embarrassing like having to wear an old fashioned maids outfit for a whole day. The Potion Master really had a sadistic side. 

Harry had no idea where his mate had disappeared off to, not even his Slayer senses helped him to discover from which side the vampire would attack. Lately Severus had become much better at avoiding his fine tuned senses, and the Gryffindor wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. 

He jumped when two long arms wrapped around his waist, then leaned back the warm embrace. 

 "It seems that I win again Mr Potter." Severus whispered by his ear then proceeded to nibble at it. Harry only moaned and didn't protest as he was led towards the bed.

Before much could be done, there was a terrible knocking on the door. When it didn't stop after a couple of minutes both Slayer and vampire growled in annoyance. 

 "What?!" Harry yelled glaring at the door. 

 "Rise and shine, sleeping beauties!" came Draco's unnaturally cheerful voice from the other side. "Time to tell the rest of your story!" 

 "It's six in the morning, you idiot!" the Gryffindor yelled back. "Go play on the highway!" 

 "As fun as that sounds, Potter, I'm afraid I'll have to decline the offer."

 "It wasn't an offer, it was an order." 

 "Same thing." Pause. "So, when can we expect the two of you downstairs? The rest of the house has already been awake for hours."

 "Insufferable, obnoxious, annoying pests the whole lot of them." Severus growled. 

Harry shook his head. "We'll be down when we're awake." 

 "If you're not awake now, how can you talk to me?"

 "… sleep-talk!" 

 "That was lame." 

 "Shut up Sev." 

 "That means you gonna be down in, what, ten minutes?" 

 "Mr Malfoy, if you don't stop pestering us this early in the morning, a certain redheaded Mrs Malfoy is going to become a widow within the next ten seconds." 

 "We expect you within the next half hour, or we'll come up and drag you down." 

 "Try it and you're dead!" 

-------------------------

Due to the unfortunate fact that Draco's threat wasn't just a bluff, and that Sirius – paired with the Weasley twins – could, and would, do something terribly embarrassing to them if they didn't hurry up, Harry and Severus appeared in the living room about twenty minutes later. 

The blonde healer hadn't been kidding around when he said that the rest of the house already was awake. The kids had finished ripping open their gifts and were running around the house like hyperactive rabbits. The grown-ups on the other hand, were drinking tea and doing some small talk until the Slayer and the vampire showed up. 

 "Ah, good morning Severus! Harry!" the old Headmaster looked up from a lollypop. 

Severus sneered and Harry growled. 

 "Arrr, jolly mornin' me hearties!" Sirius came up behind them and pushed them further into the room. He was wearing a black eye-patch and a plastic sword was hanging off his hip.

The Potion Master massaged the bridge of his nose while the Boy Who Lived just glared. 

 "Now leave the poor men alone for a minute." Hermione walked into the room and handed Harry a strong coffee. Then she pushed both of them into the sofa and seated herself beside Ron. The rest of the rooms occupants were watching the two of them excitedly. The bushy-haired woman locked at the clock. "A minute is over, start talking!" 

 "I'm blaming all this on you Potter."

 "I'm blaming it on Draco and his insufferable curiosity."

 "Good idea." The aforementioned Malfoy didn't look too happy. Severus and Harry were well known for their little revenge addiction. 

The vampire sighed and started talking.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Severus turned the radio in the car on. There had to be something better out there than listening to Potters eternal babbling! 

The brat himself, was currently looking for something, though how he was supposed to spot the thing he was looking for in the middle of nowhere was beyond him. 

 "Potter, I still cannot see why you wouldn't let me drive." 

 "You want the cops to pull us over before we even get out of the state?" the Annoying Pest Who Lived glared at him. "Remind me to teach you how to drive during this trip."

 "My driving skills are quite fine."

 "Yeah, if you've got a death wish."

 "You're walking on thin ice, Slayer."

 "You can't kill me. I'm a… fountain of blood to put it poetically."

 "There are other way's to kill someone than drinking their blood." 

 "You'd know a lot about that Death Eater." Potter mumbled. However, before Severus could kill the obnoxious nuthead, they passed a sign and the Gryffindor seemed a lot calmer for some reason. 

 "What are you so happy about?" 

 "We just got out of New York state and into New Jersey. As far as the Order knows there aren't any Snakes here. Most of the magical folks in the state are neutrals; neither Dark nor Light." 

 "Is that something to be insanely happy about?"

 "If you own enough cash, you own the folks around here. We'll be quite safe." Potter looked over at him and Severus raised a sarcastic eyebrow. "What, you don't believe me?" 

 "No." The vampire deadpanned. "Never have and never will. I'd be more likely to trust a Hufflepuff." 

 "Hufflepuffs aren't that bad. At least they're just more trusting than paranoid Slytherins."

 "I am _not_ paranoid, Mr Potter, just concerned about my welfare. Unlike certain Gryffindorks." The Potion Master glared at his companion. 

Potter rolled his eyes. "That was low, Snape, even for you. Loosing your touch? And if it hadn't been for this _Gryffindor_, you still would have been chained to a wall in the Dark Lords dungeons." 

Severus sneered. It was a sore subject that one. "Well, excuse me Mr Hero-of-the-World. But I wasn't the one who brought the Dark Lord back in the first place." To his surprise Potter winced and concentrated on the driving. 

Not another word was said between them until they reached a shabby looking motel and stopped for the night. Potter secured the car for thieves and they headed into the… in no other words: disgusting building. At the reception a blonde girl was sitting chewing an enormous gum and with way too much makeup painted on her face. She also had a skull tattooed on her bare right shoulder.  

She looked up when they came in, twinning the gum around her finger, and giggled. "Yes, may I help you?" obviously she was trying to either seduce them – Severus shuddered a the thought – or trying to scare them away from the motel, not that he wasn't scared of the place already. It was down right terrible! 

 "A room with two beds." Potter ordered. 

 "For how long?"

 "One night." 

 "Five dollars." She handed the younger man a key. "Room seven. Don't mind the couple in room five, they've always been a bit loud." 

The Slayer took the key and stomped out again. Severus followed him to their assigned room and once inside sneered at the dirty room. Potter on the other hand, kept walking to and fro and mumbling furiously to himself. 

 "For heavens sake, stop that! You're making me dizzy!" the younger man stopped, sighed and started walking again. The vampire finally lost his patience, swung the protesting Gryffindor over his shoulder and dumped him in a chair. "Now, what the hell are you mumbling about?" 

 "You saw her tattoo?" Severus nodded. "Well, it's the mark of a infamous organisation of thieves, murderers, drug dealers, you name it. They've gangs and spies all over the united states, and I've had a few run-ins with them. Lets just say that they're not exactly happy that I'm alive." 

 "Life with you is never boring, is it Potter?" the former Slytherin Head of House looked out the window. "Would you look at that, our little blonde friend is already on her way." Potter stepped up to him and they watched as the girl hurried over the parking lot and into a house at the other side. 

 "What the hell do you think you're doing?" Severus asked the shorter man as he drew out his wand and pointed it at the girl who was now returning. 

 "I'm doing something about her."

Severus grabbed the wand. "No, you're not. You can be sure that those wards put over whatever states by whomever, can pick up on anyone using magic. We don't need any more attention than we already have." 

 "Say that to the bed." The Slayer growled. Both of them turned towards the other side of the room, and sure enough there was only one double bed. As in _one_ bed. 

 "I thought you told the little urchin out there to give us a room with two beds!" 

 "I did!" there was a pause. "This room must be filled with surveillance equipment or something. We're sitting ducks!" 

 "Lets get out of here." 

 "Best thing you've said in a long time Snape." Potter headed towards the door. 

Severus was about to follow him when his sharp hearing picked up the sound of several guns being loaded. Through the thin white curtains he could see the shape of at least a dozen people with rifles and other Muggle machinery. He looked to Potter again. The man had no idea of what waited them outside. 

 "Potter," he hissed. "Get down."  
  


 "What?" the younger man turned. 

 "Get down." Severus whispered again gesturing. 

 "What are you talking about?" 

 "Get-" he didn't get further. It all happened in slow motion. The sharp sound from outside, the window breaking into pieces, and then something burning in his arm. He wasn't sure if he screamed in surprise or pain, and neither did he remember how the hell he had ended up on the floor. 

 "Severus!" Potter was lying on the floor further away luckily not hit by anything. "Yo, vampy! Still breathing?" 

 "What does it look like?"

 "Yep, you're still there. Greasy idiot. Are you strong enough to move?" 

 "I think so." He clutched at the wound. "It feels like a flesh wound."

 "You were lucky." The Slayer looked around the room. "Damn, no windows! And I bet no back door either. Trapped like idiots." 

 "No comment." Severus looked around himself. As the younger man had pointed out there were no windows except the one where he had been standing. "Any bright ideas Potter?" 

 "Why are you asking me?"  
  


 "You seem to have a knack for getting out of situations like these."

 "Potter! We know you're in there!" Severus and Potter looked to the window. "We have a couple of loose ends to tie up. Lets talk about it like real men, eh?! What do you say?!" 

 "I say: FUCK OFF!" another round of shots followed these words. 

 "Congratulations Potter, you just pissed them off." Severus growled to the younger man. 

 "No shit Sherlock, and I don't see you doing anything about the situation." The Gryffindor shot back. "Hey Snape, those vampire Elemental powers of yours might come in handy. Think you could melt their guns, or at least make them too hot to hold?" he mentioned towards the window. "When they're down we run for the car."

 "Only a Gryffindor would think of a plan like that," the vampire mumbled. "But sometimes insanity is your only choice. Alright Potter, I'll try. Get ready to run when I give the signal." Potter nodded and got into a crouching position. Severus did that same and they made their way towards the door. 

 "Come on Potter! We ain't got all night for this!" several metallic clicks from outside told them that the guns were being reloaded. "This is not the time to play Hide-and-Seek." 

 "You know, that's exactly what Voldie told me at the end of the Third Task at the TriWizard Tournament." Potter whispered. 

 "Talking about the good old days will have to wait for another time," the vampire replied. "Right now we need to get to the car, and this time I'm driving."

 "What?!"

 "You heard me. You drive like an old Muggle, _way_ below the speed limit." 

 "And you belong in St. Mungo's for thinking that I'll let you drive. I actually want to survive this, believe it or not."

 "Then I suggest that you let me drive."

 "And get caught by the cops? Yeah right!" 

 "Lets say that the first person to reach the car gets to drive." Severus looked at his companion.

 "Not fair. You're a bloody vampire with bloody inhuman speed. You'll get there way before me."

 "Exactly." He smirked at the glare Potter sent him. "Now get ready, the guns are beginning to heat up." Just as he said that they heard a painful, surprised yelp from outside then the clutter of a gun landing on the asphalt. It was followed by several others. "_Now_!"

Potter tore the door open, and they ran out. 

-------------------------

Wonderful place to stop, isn't it? Please review and tell me what you think. 

I am still revamping my stories. Currently I'm done with the three _Sagas_, _Order of the Phoenix _and _Time After Time_. I have started on this story and don't suppose it will take long before I'm completely done. 

Since I'm still trying to figure out the Blood-thingy with Harry, it'll take some time for it to pop up in the story again. Probably when Sev and Harry reach Hogwarts. 

Thanks to:

Katy999, Forgotten Loss, J. Lynn, Silver Earth Dragon, Vampyre, Fair Lady Ravenclaw, tima, WittchWay, Kyohaku Celestiale Vespertina, Lapis Lazuli, Anonymous, Deity, Suna, Mairi Natharia aka Tara-Chan, TigerBlack and Jenny.    


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I own only the obvious, the rest belongs to JK Rowling.

Chapter Eleven-

Harry ran for his life. Even if the guns were heat up, didn't mean that the Skull agents didn't have others hidden away. Snape was a few steps ahead of him clutching the arm where he had been hit while he ran, the red blood soaking his sleeve and colouring his pale hands. They'd have to do something about that as soon as possible.

The car was just right ahead and the two of them put on an extra bout of speed, the kind of thing you could only do when you were desperate. The vampire slowly pulled ahead and jumped into the drivers seat, closing the door just as another round of bullets shot over his head. Harry down right threw himself over the hood of the car, quickly got to his feet again and jumped into the car.

"Drive!"

Snape didn't need to be asked twice. A second later they were leaving the parking lot behind with the men yelling and cursing them to the seventh hell.

"Is nowhere safe from you and your little friends Potter?" Severus asked later that night when they had stopped to do something about his wound.

Potter sighed and decided not to reply, instead his focused on cleaning the cut. Luckily the bullet had only made a little flesh wound and there was no need to panic, though it would hurt for a couple of days.

Severus couldn't help but notice how gently the Gryffindor treated his wound – and him – while cleaning and bandaging it. The young man was a natural at healing, and it wouldn't surprise the vampire if it had something to do with the endless amount of blood he had.

"There." Potter said as he tied the last knot. "It should hold for a couple of days before we have to change it. You were lucky at that one – in fact, I don't think they ever meant to shoot you seriously, just a warning shot or something." He studied his work critically and shook his head "Well, we better get going. There's nothing more I can do for you without using magic."

The Slytherin nodded and sat down into the drivers seat. Then he looked at the younger man who seemed dead on his feet. "Why don't you go to sleep in the back seat Potter? You look worse than Voldemort."

The Slayer nodded and yawned before creeping into the back and making himself comfortable as possible. Severus started the car again and soon they were on the road again.

When Potter woke up he took over the wheel and the vampire went to sleep. What woke Severus later that day was soft singing. He didn't let the Slayer know that he was awake, and instead listened to the words and Potter's voice.

During the song Severus had sat up and had been watching the younger man in the mirror. He had never heard that song before.

"That was quite nice Potter," he said and the Gryffindor jumped in surprise. "What's the name of the song?"

"_Hotel California_ by the Eagles." The blushing Slayer replied.

"Where did you learn to sing like that?"

"Nowhere in particular." The vampire raised an eyebrow at that, but the Gryffindor kept his eyes determinately focused on the road.

The next couple of days went by like that. While one slept the other would drive. Severus usually woke up to Harry humming or singing softly. It also surprised the Slytherin that Potter had somehow become Harry to him during those days, and that the Boy Who Lived called him by his given name was also a surprise though he couldn't say that he was displeased with it. He liked to hear his name roll of the others tongue.

At one point under the journey – on the border between New Jersey and Pennsylvania – they stopped. Pot- no, Harry explained to him that both parties of the war had decided to have at least a twenty feet wide space between their wards when on the border from one state to another. There the Gryffindor had taken out his wand and first healed the Slytherins wound, then had transfigured the car into a black, fancy one with roof that could be put on and taken off, he had also made it very comfortable too so that they didn't get a backache when sleeping in the back seat. The Slayer also took time to teach the vampire to drive properly.

With the new improved speed of the car they reached Gadsden in Alabama three days later. By Severus estimations they had been on the road for about eight days. Another thing Harry had done when stopping in the ward-free zones was to conjure up bags of clothes for them and a little cooler with endless amount of drinks. Since Severus was a vampire and couldn't drink the sodas, he drank Harry's blood after the young man had finished a can to cool himself off. First time this had happened both of them had been nervous, but now both of them seemed to enjoy it, and Harry would out of habit offer his arm to the vampire when he was done drinking.

Severus also found himself enjoying Harry's company for every day that passed. Every time the two of them argued – and they hardly did anything else – something about their pasts was revealed. No matter how hard they tried to shut up about their childhoods, it came out; it was as if some power from above or something had decided that they would know everything about each other. The vampire began to have very lustful dreams about the younger man, and worried him slightly.

Harry too was facing some of the same problems. He had started to enjoy Severus' presence more and more since this trip had begun. First he had thought that it was Connor's work and that the Old Vampire was following them, but since the resident vampire would've been able to pick up the paranoid man no matter how far away he was, and wasn't complaining about it, the whole thing had to have some other source. He was starting to have lustful thoughts towards his former Potion Master, and the dreams that accompanied those thoughts didn't help the matter.

If it had been anyone else, Harry would've stopped singing at once. But now he just kept on going, and he blushed – of all the things in the world: _blushed_ – when Snape commented on his singing abilities. No, it was Severus now. Goddamn it, he hated it when Connor was right. The paranoid vampire reminded him of two people: Mad-Eye Moody and Dumbledore, a combination which would've sent braver men screaming into the night. If someone had told him a month ago that he would have been falling for the Slytherin Head of House, he'd either send them to St. Mungo's or ask if they had been dropped on the head when they had been kids.

And it would only get more confusing.

When they reached Gadsden they drove straight through and stopped at a little bank at the outskirts of the town. Harry had insisted on stopping here for two reasons. One: he was tired of sitting in the car day in and day out; and two: from here he could phone Tiaret, 'Mione or his godfather without getting traced as no one would think twice about a call made from a public place.

Harry parked the car outside the building, got out and entered the bank first with Severus holding the door open for him. He smiled gratefully to the vampire who just nodded, and headed straight to the other side of the room where a couple of semiprivate telephone-booths. There were about fifteen people in the room along with the clerks. An elderly couple, a pregnant woman and a little girl around five or six hanging on to her hand; the rest of the people were around Harry's age and some even at Severus'.

The little girl smiled as the two of them passed and Harry winked to her, the vampire just raised an eyebrow. The Slayer chuckled at his comrade and put some coins into the phone-machine-thingy. He never really could figure out what to call the thing. Severus leaned against the side of the booth and watched as Harry's fingers danced over the little digits dialling a number. Quite nice fingers, he had to admit.

Before the Gryffindor had the chance to dial all the numbers several men dressed in military attire entered, guns and pistols at the ready and Swiss army knives hanging of their sides. The leader – a blonde man – fired a couple of shots into the roof and hereby got everyone's attention.

"This is a robbery people," he said loudly in a commando voice. "Congratulations, you have just become hostages. Now, hands into the air if you please."

Slowly people obeyed, Harry and Severus looked at each other before doing the same. Someone up in heaven really had to hate them to send all these obstacles their way; either that, or someone down in hell was laughing their head off.

"You!" another one of the group said pointing with his gun at Harry. "Put that receiver back on," he mentioned to the phone. "Now! And when done, both of you sit down on the floor."

"You know who these guys are?" Severus asked as they sat down.

"Yeah, Muggle lunatics."

"The normal kind, or the one who has a personal vendetta against you?"

"I'd say it's the former." Harry looked around. The little girl was clinking to her pregnant mother, the elderly couple had sat down in chairs and the others against the walls. The people who worked in the bank were driven out from behind the counter – and from other rooms – and told to sit with the rest of them. "Ironic, isn't it?"

"What?"

"We both manage to avoid being captured by the most evil wizard for decades, and then a couple of crazy Muggles wave with a gun and we're captured."

"Hilarious." Severus had gone back to being sarcastic.

Suddenly one of the younger terrorists entered dragging a young Afro-American woman with him. "Hey guys, look what I found." She was struggling and cursing enough to make a sailor blush. He pushed her roughly towards Severus and Harry and she sat down on the Slayer's other side. "Hope we can have some fin with her later, eh?"

Their leader shook his head. "Idiot! Nothing can be done until everything's secured." He turned and addressed the people in the room. "Here's the deal folks. You don't resist us or make any stupid, heroic deeds and we'll let you – and yours," he looked pointedly at the pregnant woman and her daughter, "live. We're all going to stay here for a while, so you might as well get comfortable."

"We've got to do something about his." Harry whispered.

"Any bright ideas?" the vampire's eyes and ears were both working overtime trying to hear or see something that could give them information on their captors or help them escape.

"Not yet, too little information to work with." He turned to the young woman when she tapped his shoulder. "Yes?"

She extended her hand. "Whoopi Goldberg. My parents named me after the actress." She added seeing the confused looks they sent her.

"Harry Reed." Harry replied.

"Severus Mortimer."

"Interesting names." Whoopi commented. "However, I just wanted to tell you that if you plan to do something about our… situation, don't forget to count me in." Harry and Severus looked at each other then nodded to her. "You know, the two of you really make a cute couple. Of course I have nothing against same-sex couples – god knows, my mother is a lesbian – but 'til now you're the cutest couple I've ever encountered."

"Er… thanks, I guess." Harry blinked a few times, trying to ignore the giddy feeling that was flooding through him. He suddenly became aware of Severus who was leaning slightly over his shoulder, watching the woman through narrow eyes.

"Hey! The three of you, break it up." They jumped when the leader of the terrorists stalked over to them. "That's a bit too close for my liking." He growled and with his hand mentioned for them to split up a bit. Then his eyes fell on Harry and Severus, and he grinned manically. "You know, freaks like you aren't allowed in the army and thank god for that, no telling what you'd do to our boys."

"Well, that answers at least one question." Whoopi said as he walked away. "These people have had proper training in battle and are extremely dangerous. Perhaps even mental."

"And you would know this how?" Severus asked.

"The first is just logical. The second, well, it reminds me kinda of a movie I once saw."

"Gods," Harry sighed. "The next thing you'll know those guys will start jumping around in tutus and sing _I'm too sexy for you_."

"Eeew, Harry!"

Severus just smacked the younger man lightly over the head. That was a mental image he could happily live without.

By nightfall everyone were thoroughly bored. The police had arrived hours ago and had surrounded the building. As in all movies they had demanded for the terrorists to give up, then threatened the men and at the end tried negotiating. In the end the leader of the terrorists had decided to let go of the elderly couple as they were more trouble than they were worth and a burden to them all.

Everyone were tired. The little girl was leaning against her mother, her eyelids dropping lower and lower. The mother herself didn't look much better, luckily she wasn't too far into the pregnancy or something bad would've happened long before now. The rest of the people were resting against each other or talking quietly together.

Harry yawned and rubbed his eyes. Gods, he was tired. He, Severus and Whoopi had finally gotten to the conclusion that there was nothing they could do about the situation without endangering the other hostages. Whoopi had dozed off leaning against a chair, and Severus was still awake, not having moved once, watching and listening.

"If we could turn the lights off, I would be out of here before the generator kicked them into gear again." The vampire whispered.

"Hmm, that could work." Harry replied. "But how to turn them off?" he looked around the room for a while. "I think I have an idea. Get ready."

"Don't do anything stupid, the Commander would have my head if something happened to you."

The Slayer just smiled and got up.

"What's he up to?" a newly awakened Whoopi asked as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.

"I have no idea."

"Then lets sit and enjoy the show."

The two of them watched as Harry hurriedly walked towards the pregnant woman. Just before he reached her, the man who had found Whoopi in the back of the bank stepped in front of him and pushed the Gryffindor harshly backwards.

"And where do ya think ya're goin'?"

"To check up on her baboon, now let me pass." That proved to be too much for the young man who had joined this whole thing thinking it would be a bloodbath like in the movies. He whipped out his gun and shot right at Harry's head. Some people screamed, the mother covered her daughters eyes and Whoopi gasped. Severus on the other hand, smirked. The box with all the fuses or whatever the Muggles called it, was right behind the Slayer. As Harry quickly ducked out of the way, the bullet hit the box and everything went dark. When the light came back on three seconds later, the vampire was gone.

Whoopi blinked a few times, staring at the spot where the Slytheirn had been in surprise. Then she turned towards Harry who was picking himself off the floor, swearing and cursing at the other man. The whole commotion brought the groups leader there and it took another five minutes of explanations before Harry managed to convince them that he was a doctor and that he feared for the pregnant woman's health. Then it took another two minutes before someone noticed that Severus was gone. No one even thought that Harry might have something to do with it; no, the whole blame landed on the man who had fired the shot. Then it took another minute before they managed to organise a search of the bank.

The young woman blinked another couple of times and caught Harry's green eyes. The young man was currently checking the pregnant woman and making small talk, but when he saw her looking at him he grinned and winked. Whoopi shook her head but smiled back. She had been right. Harry and Severus were one hell of a team.

While all of this was going on inside the building, there was a certain black-eyed vampire running across the roof. When he reached the end he jumped silently into a black little alley and looked around. There were no windows and no hidden cameras in sight. Perfect. Then he used the shadows to sneak towards the police on the other side of the road. Civilians were huddled worriedly together behind the police barrier, a couple of TV-teams had arrived and were filming the building with great interest, and the police themselves looked towards the building with worry etched into their features. It was clear that everyone had heard the shot and seen the lights go out.

Severus walked out of the shadows acting as if he had been running as fast as he could, and everyone turned towards him. The police lowered their guns and welcomed him into their midst asking for information on the situation inside the bank while the TV-teams filmed the whole thing.

The vampire told them everything he knew and showed them the little nearly forgotten ally. But when the police told him to stay there while they went in, he protested. There was no way he was going to wait safely out here while Harry was in there. Why he felt this ridiculous urge to protect the Slayer was beyond him, but in the end he was allowed to come with the team that they were sending in.

Just before they were about to leave, someone tapped his shoulder and he turned. Both of the TV-teams were there, the camera men glaring at each other. "Why are you so set on going back in there now that you first have gotten out?" the female reporter asked.

"Harry's in there." Severus replied simply then stalked over to the team and started to lead them through the shadows and towards the ally.

In the meantime inside the building Harry had his hands full. The pregnant woman wasn't fairing well and had a fever. Her daughter was watching worriedly as the Gryffindor dabbed a wet cloth on her mothers forehead, now and then asking if her mother was going to be alright. Whoopi had moved over to them and was helping with calming the little girl, telling her stories and playing games with her.

The leader of their captors – named Tex, as they had found out – suddenly grabbed Harry's shoulder and dragged him to the other side of the room. "How is she?" he demanded.

"Not good. The fever's pretty high." Suddenly Harry got one of those crazy ideas that Dumbledore was so famous for. "I think it's a virus. I've never seen anything like it; though it does remind me of a case on Hawaii a couple of years ago." He pretended to think.

"Tell me!" Tex ordered.

"Well, there were these mosquitoes with tiger-stripes that were carrying some deadly disease. If one with the disease even as much as breathed in the same air as you, you were infected."

The other man gulped. "What were the signs." He couldn't keep his voice from shaking slightly.

Harry nearly grinned. Look who had the upper hand now. "First a lot of sweating, then terrible itching. After that you get dozens of spots all over. They grow and grow and in the end you look like a balloon."

"I guess that all of us are infected, huh?" Harry nodded. "Do whatever you can for all of us."

Whoopi looked questionably at him when he sat down, but he just grinned deviously. "Just gave our captors something to sweat about."

"Fake?"

"Definitely, she's only running a slight fever." He looked at the pregnant woman again. "She'll be fine." Harry began to use his power over the Element of Fire and slowly began to heat up the room; it wouldn't be long now before these idiots got panic and did something foolish.

Five minutes later his Slayer-senses picked up the silent footsteps of a vampire and the heavier footsteps of mortals. He had to keep himself from jumping up and down with joy. He looked at their captors again. Tex had told his men what Harry had told him and all of them were worriedly fanning themselves to cool off. None were paying much attention to the doors and corridors leading into the bank.

"Time to strike." The Gryffindor whispered in a tone that only the vampire would be able to pick up. "Our captors have gotten… _sick_ of this whole thing."

Severus couldn't help but chuckle at this receiving weird looks from his comrades. He had to drag the tale out of Harry once this was over. He could feel the magic running through the room and realised that the Slayer had used his own Elemental powers to heat it up; no doubt it had something to do with the fact that the military-dressed men were worriedly checking their arms and faces, and drinking a whole lot of water.

The terrorists were completely unprepared for the swift attack, and it didn't take them long before the good guys had them in handcuffed. To the vampire's surprise Whoopi hugged him when she saw him, he saw Harry grinning at his surprise over her head. The police opened the barricaded doors and medical help entered along with other officers.

Suddenly there was a shot in the room, and everyone turned towards the sound. The young man who had tried to kill Harry already once, had the Gryffindor in a headlock pointing the gun to the others head.

"Now, me an' little doc here," he pressed the gun further into the Slayers head and Harry hissed, "are getting out of here. I want a car to wait for us at the other side of the building within the next five minutes, or else this beauty here's gonna do an impression of Snow White with the difference that he ain't gonna wake up again."

As the man dragged Harry with him into a corridor that led to the vaults, Severus growled dangerously. Whoopi turned to him and gasped. The man's teeth were bared and he was glaring towards the way the other two had disappeared. The two canine teeth were getting longer and sharper and the black eyes sparkled unnaturally. And suddenly he was gone. She looked around, but there was no sign of him; then Whoopi turned towards the corridor. If her suspicions were right – and she didn't doubt that they were – then that young man who had kidnapped Harry was in deep shit.

Harry himself, was trying to get the young man to loosen his grip. "What good will I be to you if you choke me before you get that car you asked for?"

The young man released him and began to push him towards the exit in front of himself, using the Slayer as a human shield. "Get goin' or I'll kill ya no matter what happens afterwards." The gun dug into Harry's back and he started to walk slowly.

Severus was watching all of this from the shadows. How dare that… that… misfit touch _his_ Harry! He growled. Harry was _his_, and his alone. And Severus didn't share.

As the two men walked past an empty vault, the vampire attacked. He punched the young man with the gun, and sent him flying into the vault. Then he closed the door and activated the lock. All this hadn't taken more than a second or two, and Harry – who had been knocked to the floor – was standing up and looking at the pissed of Slytheirn who was glaring at the door of the vault.

"Um, Severus?" they could hear banging from the other side and the vampire just kept glaring. "Severus?" Harry dared to put a hand on the others shoulder. "What horrible deeds did the vault door do to you, that it deserves to be glared at until it melts?" in the next second Harry found himself in a bone crushing hung courtesy of the vampire. He was surprised at first, but then returned the embrace. The Slytherin was hanging on to him as if he was a lifeline, and both of them were shaking slightly. They slid to the floor, not breaking their hold on each other. All the tension and adrenalin that had kept them going during the day finally ebbed away, leaving them weak both physically and mentally. It suddenly occurred to them both that they could've lost each other, and it made them tighten their embrace.

"I hate Connor." Severus mumbled.

"Why?" Harry asked quietly running his fingers through the silky, long hair.

The vampire looked at him. "Because he's right." Then he kissed the younger man.

Harry blinked a few times, but then gave in to the vampire and opened his lips. Their tongues duelled for dominance and slowly but surely Severus won that battle. The Slayer moaned as the two fangs nibbled gently at his lower lip. Suddenly the Slytherin stood up, easily bringing the Gryffindor along with him.

"This isn't exactly the place for this." The taller man whispered when they broke apart.

"We could sneak out to the car and drive off, though how we'll manage that without having the TV-teams notice us is beyond me." Harry blushing slightly and buried his head in the nape of the other man's neck. He felt Severus lean his head on top of his.

"What do you say we just apparate to that godfather of yours from right here? If this is Gryffindor territory then they'll know we're coming and if not, well, we'll be arriving into Gryffindor territory and no one will dare to even think about hurting us."

Harry grinned and kissed the other man again. "I love it when you make sense."

"What's the address?" Severus asked. Neither had moved out of the embrace.

"Hmm? Oh, somewhere along St. Charles Avenue. They say it will be easy to find them once you get there." The vampire nodded and apparated them both to the aforementioned street.

They walked down one side of the street, watching both sides for something to tell them where Sirius and Remus had their residence. Severus had his arm protectively around Harry's waist, and was glaring at everyone who dared to even glance at them.

"There!" Harry pointed at a house with a stone wolf and a stone dog guarding the entrance, and the two of them headed that way. Harry rung the bell and they waited.

Soon enough they could hear footsteps from the other side, and the door was unlocked. Then it opened and both Slayer and vampire stared with their mouths open.

"Ignatus!"

There, finished. Don't expect another chapter like this. And sorry if some of you feel that things are going too fast, but I cannot keep writing and writing this story into eternity.

As to other things. I've finally figured out the Blood-thing; however, it won't be explained until the sequel, so you still have to wait a bit for that.

Whoopi Goldberg's name belongs to the actress herself.

Hope you enjoyed it and please review, and sorry for not putting the A/N at the top.

Thanks to:

vampyre, Katy999, Anita Blake, Arizosa, Kayla Darklighter, Aurelius, Mairi Natharia aka Tara-Chan, americanrdr, UltraHighDragonFly, Lukaret, Lady Wolf and izean.


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I own only the obvious, the rest belongs to JK Rowling.

Authors Note: Sorry that this is short, but I hope you like it. 

Authors Note2: Thanks to my wonderful betas _Tabitha_ and _Lexi-formerly Katy999_.  

-Chapter Twelve-

Harry and Severus just stared at the Old Vampire standing in the door grinning at them.

 "Bet you didn't expect to see me here, now did you?" Ignatus asked them, and the two of them shook their heads. "How about we discuss this inside? I really don't want some Fledgling to overhear this because you're too shocked to move." The small insult got both the Slayer and the Vampire to move and they entered the house. 

The only word that could describe the house was 'Sirius'. It was clear that the man had been on the loose. The walls were coloured in all the hues of the rainbow, with the colours changing constantly. The few pictures on the walls showed scenes where the Marauders stood together – Peter was hexed off. They showed Harry, Ron and Hermione in their schooldays and after, a couple of pictures with Sirius and Remus, but mostly the pictures showed Slytherins being subjected to pranks or embarrassed. The pictures involving Malfoy Sr. and Severus were enlarged and took up half the wall. 

Harry shook his head but smiled, while Severus snorted at the pictures, muttering something about typical Gryffindor behaviour. 

 "Ignatus, who's at the door?" Remus' voice came from the kitchen. 

 "Harry and Severus."

 "Oh, ok… _WHAT_?" There was a frantic scraping of chairs and hurried footsteps coming towards them, and both Sirius and Remus showed up a second later. 

 "Harry!" Sirius threw himself at his godson and knocked Harry to the floor while nearly choking him to death. 

 "Elegant as always, Black." Severus said. Harry was having trouble breathing, and a well-placed insult could always get the mutt to let go of whatever he was holding. 

Sirius jumped to his feet. "What the bloody hell are you doing here, Snape?" he sneered.

 "I'm accompanying _Harry here. Because of the Commander at the HQ's, the two of us ended up as partners on this little mission. As a matter of fact, that's why we're here." The Potion Master turned to Ignatus. "Did you tell them anything at all?"  
  _

 "Yes, well, as much as I know. How else was I to gain their trust?"

Remus stepped into the conversation. "Why don't we take this to the living room?" he suggested. "I'm sure we all have plenty to talk about, and the corridor isn't exactly the right place to do so. You're welcome to stay as long as you need, Severus." He deliberately used the Vampire's first name. It sent a clear message to Sirius: 'Protest and die, shut up and live'. 

Sirius growled but led Severus and Harry into the living room. This was a room where Remus had refused Sirius the joy of decorating, and the room looked relatively normal had it not been for the odd wizard knickknacks placed around the room. Harry sat down in the sofa and Severus sat down beside him, much to Sirius's great displeasure. Therefore, the animagus took the chair that was closest to Harry's other side and started to engage his godson into a conversation about killing Vampires and how many ways you could kill a day-walking Vampire. 

 "Can I offer the two of you something?" Remus asked Harry and Sev. "Tea? Soda? Something to snack on?" 

 "No thanks, Moony," Harry replied ignoring the death glares Severus and Sirius sent each other. "I'd rather get this over with as soon as possible and then go to bed, this day has been hell."

 "I don't doubt it with Snape around." Sirius muttered.

 "All right," Remus and Ignatus sat down in the two remaining chairs, pointedly ignoring Sirius. "Let's hear it then."

Harry sighed and started to tell them what had happened since Ignatus had disappeared. When he was finished, the Old Vampire looked thoughtful and a bit sad, and Remus looked just thoughtful while Sirius really didn't know what to think. It had not registered with him yet that his godson and his number one enemy were bonded. But it was starting to and his face was beginning to do an impressive imitation of a beetroot. Remus saw this and quickly and discreetly cast a Protective Charm around Severus and Harry. 

To their great surprise Sirius stood up. "Excuse me for a minute." He bit out and quickly walked out of the room closing the door after him. A second later they could hear him shout from the corridor and swear enough to make a sailor blush, in several languages.

Harry cringed but smiled at the werewolf. "You taught him well."

"Someone had to," Remus chuckled. "I threatened with dog obedience school if he didn't behave."

"That comment is worthy of a Slytherin." Severus chuckled.

"Yes, well, I learned from the best," the werewolf said.

At that moment Sirius came back in. He still looked immensely pissed off, but did not try to hex Snape to hell and back, so they supposed that it was a good development. The animagus sat down in his chair and took a deep breath; then he turned to Harry. 

"I don't like it, I don't want to hear about it, and I certainly don't want to see it." Harry cringed and the others tensed at these words. "But…" damn, there was a 'but'. "But I will try to accept it though it might take a great amount of time." 

 "That's all I can ask of you, Sirius," Harry said after he had managed to put himself back together. The fact that his godfather had not started to rant and rave and do something unforgivable was a shock to everyone present. 

 "Good," Sirius said. "At least you're not with that stupid Mark Augustyn anymore, that brat was worse than Lockhart and Moody put together," he mumbled but everyone heard it. 

Harry chuckled along with Remus, but Severus turned to Ignatus. "Why don't you tell us what you are doing here? And how the hell did you get away from that band of Vampires?"

 "Well, getting away was pretty easy," Ignatus replied calmly. "All I had to do was to set them on fire, and they weren't exactly strong, nor were they fast. They were most likely Fledglings."

 "And what are you doing here of all places?" Harry repeated Sev's question. 

 "Offering my help to these two fine gentlemen."   
  


 "Yeah, right, and Malfoy loves Muggles."

 "You didn't let me finish, Harry; I'm offering my help to Sirius and Remus so they can figure out a way to get you inside Hogwarts. The sooner the better."  
  


 "But how did you know that we were going to end up here?" Severus asked. 

 "Simple logic. In the end you two would have gone to either the Weasleys or these two for help, and I have Vampires watching all of them."

 "You seem to be a big influence in the Vampiric world."

 "I am." 

Harry stepped in before Severus could start a fight. "Ok, so what do we do now?"  
  


 "Sirius and I have been going over your options," Remus replied. "And the only way you can get into Hogwarts is through the Forbidden Forest; the Death Eaters count it as a natural hindrance since no sane person would try to go through it."

 "Exactly." Sev mumbled. 

 "So what do you suggest?" Harry asked after having elbowed his… mate, he supposed, in the ribs. 

 "You need to become animagi." Sirius grinned. "And before you start protesting, let me finish. Me and Moony here – with the help of the Weasley twins – have invented a special potion for the Order. It gives you your animagi form within seconds and you won't have to turn one limb at the time. All you have to do after taking it is to research your animal and practice to run, jump, attack, walk, etc, in your animal form, which shouldn't take more than a week – less if you learn fast." 

 "You sure it will be safe?"

 "Yeah, why do you ask?"

 "You two plotting together with Fred and George is never a good omen." 

 "Why thank you!" 

 "I am surrounded by imbeciles."

 "Shut up Sev, this can actually help us. No one would look twice at a couple of animals." Harry said to the Vampire. 

 "That depends on what animals we're going to become." Severus bit back. 

 "Whatever. Have you tested this potion before?" Harry asked his godfather. 

 "Nope, you're the first."

 "Oh, good god. Now I'm scared." 

Remus swatted at the ex-convict. "Sirius, play nice!" then he turned to Harry. "Don't worry, the potion has been tested on several people, and nothing happened to them." Harry still looked slightly worried, but then a huge yawn forced its way to the surface. Remus stood up at once, offering to show them to their bedroom. 

Harry gratefully accepted. "I'll see you tomorrow, Sirius."

 "And I'll see you tomorrow night," Ignatus stood up as well. "I have things to do, people to visit." He winked to Harry, said a polite goodbye to Remus and Sirius, and disappeared.

 "I wish he'd stop doing that." Sirius muttered, then he hugged his godson. "Scream if he hurts you," he told him.

 "I think there's gonna be a lot of screaming involved anyways." Harry replied cheekily. 

Sirius growled and stalked out of the room. "I'm not going to kill him. I'm not going to kill him. I'm not going to kill him." They could hear him muttering until a door closed. 

The werewolf shook his head and started to lead them through the house and to their room. "I'm sorry about Sirius, but you know how he is. Anyways, here's the guestroom. Mine's at the next floor and Sirius' is one floor down. If you need anything just yell and a House Elf will pop up. Oh, and try not to break the bed," the man added before closing the door after him. 

 "Remus has a very dirty mind." Harry observed. 

 "But he's right." Severus nibbled at the younger man's ear. "By the time I'm finished with you," he whispered in a tone that just spoke of sex, "you won't know what's up and what's down." 

In the next second Harry found himself naked and flat on his back on the bed, with Severus standing over him. "How do you _do_ that?" Harry asked. He had never seen a Vampire move that fast, not even an Old Vampire. 

 "A secret of mine." The immortal replied and attacked. 

If it hadn't been for the fact that Remus had locked him in and taken his wand, Sirius would have stormed up to Harry and Severus' room more than once during the night. The worst thing was that the couple had either forgotten Silencing Spells or they had been broken, and the animagus wasn't too happy being woken up in the middle of the night by screaming. 

And as for Harry, he discovered that you hadn't experienced what sex was until you had done it with a Vampire. By the time morning came he was completely exhausted yet more satisfied than ever, his body deliciously heavy. He could feel Severus spooning up around him, hugging him close and nuzzling the back of his neck. Harry sighed happily and let sleep claim him, knowing that the Vampire was far from sated. 

-------------------------     

Again sorry this is short, but please review. 

My exams are coming up in two weeks and I hardly have any time for anything else but studying. I'll try to update as soon as possible both this and my other stories, but I make no promises. Please bear with me.

Thanks to:

Fage of Hyren, Arizosa, Lexi-formerly Katy999, Kayla Darklighter, TigerBlak, Lukaret, Amara, J. Lynn, Sela, black knight, Emilea Wendelin Smith, serapotter, MJ, Tiger of the Fire, Zaeria, starrdancerr, Willowstar, Vld and Mairi Nathaira aka Tara-Chan.   


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I own only the obvious, the rest belongs to JK Rowling.  
  
Authors Note: I'm sorry for the delay, but as you all know I've been on vacation for the past three weeks, to a place with no computers. :::shudder::: Anyways, please review at the end.  
  
Authors Note2: Thanks to my betas Lexi formerly Katy999 and Tabitha.  
  
-Chapter Thirteen-  
  
"Right, now, all you have to do, Harry, is drink the potion." Remus said. "It will be a bit painful, but not even close to the Cruciatus."  
  
Harry nodded weakly, exchanged a look with Severus, and both of them downed the potion at the same time.  
  
Remus and Sirius watched in amazement as Harry began to change. The young man sprouted silvery-white hairs all over his body. Soon the transformation forced him down on all fours, and Remus suddenly recognized the animal into which Harry was turning.  
  
"A wolf!" he shouted just as Harry finished his transformation. "Gods, Harry, you look beautiful!"  
  
The silver-white wolf looked at them, the incredibly green eyes dancing with laughter. Suddenly a dark shadow fell over Harry and he turned, only to look straight into pitch-black eyes, and his mouth dropped open. Severus stood beside him. Severus the Pitch-black wolf stood beside him. Not only that, but the Potion Master was also more strongly built and taller than Harry.  
  
"I guess this proves that you two fit together," Remus muses. "Wolves mate for life, and your life certainly is going to be long."  
  
"Well, now, let's see if you can turn back. On three!" Sirius was nearly jumping up and down like an excited child. Both Harry and Severus rolled their eyes at this, and Remus didn't even bother to do anything anymore, being used to the antics of the animagus.  
  
"One." Sirius holds up one finger.  
  
"Two." Harry and Severus look at each other, a silent message passing between them.  
  
"Thr-" both Vampire-turned-wolf and Slayer-turned-wolf jump at Sirius, effectively cutting the man off.  
  
"AAAHHHHHHH!!!!!! MOONY!!!!! BLOODY MURDER!!!!!!!! NO, NOT THERE!!!! THAT TICKLES!!!!!! HARRY GET OFF OF ME!!!!" Remus couldn't help but laugh. Harry had changed back into human form and was now tickling Sirius for all he was worth.  
  
Severus, after helping Harry crash Sirius to the floor, had changed back as well and was now standing beside the laughing werewolf and watching his mate and that great mutt roll around on the floor. All right, perhaps he couldn't call Black a mutt anymore, that'd be the same thing as calling himself a mutt.  
  
"Who said we needed training in anything?" Harry asked.  
  
"N. n-hot m-me!" another tickle attack.  
  
"Wanna try that again?"  
  
"Um, I'm not interrupting am I?" Ignatus's voice comes form somewhere behind them.  
  
Severus turned to the Old Vampire. "It's apparently a Godfather-Godson tradition." He deadpans, and the other Vampire chuckles. "So, how did your meeting with Tiaret go?"  
  
"Pretty well actually. First she kissed me, then she hit me and kissed me again. And what followed was one of the best nights in my long immortal life."  
  
"I know how you feel." Severus smirked and watched his beloved Harry tickle Black to the brink of insanity.  
  
"HARRY!!!!!!! MERCY!!!!!!!!!!"  
  
-------------------------  
  
"So, all we have to do now is figure out how to get to England." Harry said.  
  
They were sitting in the living room, drinking tea or munching on biscuits - Harry's neck on both of those for Severus. Sirius had kept away from Harry the whole day after the younger man had tickled him, and he refrained from commenting on the fact that Severus was currently drinking from his Godson. He loved Harry to death, but he really didn't want to meet the Tickle Monster again.  
  
"That won't be too hard," Ignatus said. "All you have to do is fly there."  
  
"But they'll be watching every plane that comes in," Remus countered.  
  
"No, no, not with planes. With other Vampires. Valda has already agreed to carry you over, Harry, and I'll take you, Severus. It will have to be done at night, and we have to be careful that it is night in England when we arrive."  
  
"But won't that be a bit conspicuous?" Harry asked.  
  
"Remember I was telling you about the Old Vampires' ability to hide ourselves from Fledglings? Well, we'll use that one now. Connor will be waiting for us by Stonehenge, along with a couple of Vampires he knows are trustworthy."  
  
"And when are we to do this?" Severus asked after having retreated his fangs from Harry's neck. He licked the wound and Harry shivered.  
  
"Tomorrow night." Ignatus replied without missing a beat. "Now, I'll be off, got something to do. Valda and I will be here tomorrow night at twelve, so be ready." With that he was gone as suddenly as he had come.  
  
"I really hate it when he does that." Sirius muttered and stood up and stretched. "Well, I'm off for a walk."  
  
"This late?" Remus asked.  
  
Sirius nodded. "Got something to think about, and I haven't been to the old cemetery for a while. Always a nice, quiet place to sit and think."  
  
"Sirius, tell me you're kidding!" Harry spoke up, and Severus even stopped nibbling at his neck and looked at Black as if he had lost his head. "Since when did you start to hang about cemeteries?"  
  
"A couple of months ago. Met a Slayer, a nice chap really. We've been together since." Sirius grinned. "See you all soon." He left.  
  
"I- if you'll excuse me." Remus hurried out of the room leaving only Harry and Severus in it.  
  
"Did you see the way Remus looked when Sirius mentioned this very good friend of his?" Harry asked his mate. "Poor Moony."  
  
"What's worse is that werewolves mate for life, and if that idiot Black doesn't realise what's going on, Lupin will be single for the rest of his life."  
  
"Well, if he doesn't realise it soon enough, I'll be forced to take action. Along with some help from Draco the Meddlesome Malfoy, and the Weasley Terror Twins."  
  
"Spare me a seat for that one." Severus mumbled and pushed Harry backwards onto the couch.  
  
"Of course," Harry replied. "I was thinking about employing Albus as well."  
  
"Disaster in the making."  
  
"Life would be boring without it, and you know it." Harry gasped. "It really is true that Vampires are insatiable creatures, huh? Oh, gods! Don't you dare stop!"  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Yes, and what happened next?" Draco demanded after neither Severus nor Harry had said anything for five minutes.  
  
"We got to England." Harry replied simply. "Nothing more to say about that really."  
  
"Yes, yes. But what happened once you got to England?" Hermione demanded. "Because from what I know, you two never reached Hogwarts."  
  
"No, that's true. We didn't." This time Severus replied.  
  
"Well, what happened?!" half the room asked.  
  
"Running around England in our animagi shapes, being kidnapped by Lucius Malfoy; you know, that sort of thing. Nothing much."  
  
"Oh, right. Nothing much." Ron repeated sarcastically.  
  
"You were kidnapped by Lucius Malfoy?" Ginny asked.  
  
"He didn't know it was us. The fact is he needed a couple of wolves for some experiment or other, and we just happened to cross his path." Harry took a sip from his now-cold tea. "And then we defeated him. End of story."  
  
"But what about the battle? What happened? How did you manage to defeat Lucius?"  
  
"It's all a bit fuzzy up there," Severus said. "It was all smoke and screaming and that sort of thing."  
  
"So you don't remember it?" both Harry and Severus shook their heads. "Great, all this waiting for nothing." Albus muttered and Minerva whacked him.  
  
"Oh well," Hermione sighed. "It's a wonderful story no matter if the end's a bit weird. Anyways, who's up for lunch?" at those words everybody in the room stood up and followed her into the kitchen, only Harry and Severus remained.  
  
"We could've told them the truth." Harry said. "But then they'd fear the both of us."  
  
"Indeed they would." Severus stood up and pulled Harry up as well. "Come on, you need something to eat."  
  
"Yes, last night was quite-"  
  
The Potion Master cut him off with a kiss. "Don't say it."  
  
Harry just laughed and they followed their friends into the kitchen.  
  
-------------------------  
  
Well, this is the end people. At least for this part of the story. The way Harry and Severus defeated Lucius Malfoy will be revealed in the sequel, along with the secret of Harry's endless amount of blood. And I have no idea what that might be coming out, so bear with me. School starts soon and it'll all be hell the first couple of weeks.  
  
Thanks to: 


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